Crossways
by PowerPlayer
Summary: People lead there lives the way they want, their personalities ever shaped by people they meet, both good and bad. However, when a group of mysterious figures enter the lives of heroes and villians alike, the changes they experience in their lives will be unlike any they could have imagined. Multiple crossover, starting with FMA. Intro inside. Rating may change.
1. Mission Start

I need to keep working. Work, work, work, so much has to be done. It all seems like so much, but I'll have the easy job of staying in my base while everyone else does the hard stuff.

I know what I need, I have the power to take it, but it'll have to be subtle. Silent. I can't be like all of the fools that have fallen because of their arrogance, no one can know what we're planning to do. I have observed them, found out their weaknesses and done everything else necessary for the plans, but direct confrontation, that's my absolute last resort.

This place that I have made for myself shows my desperation. The thing that amazes me isn't the sheer size of it, but the fact that _I _built it. No machines, no tools, not even molds or stencils for all of the intricate pictures and designs on the walls.

I've been walking through this place trying to calm myself down. It has to be done, it's a necessary evil. The end goal is worth it.

That's what I keep telling myself, but I wonder if I'm even doing this for what I'll… possibly receive at the end of this. Maybe I was just that desperate to find a new purpose in my life.

…Can I really go through with this? Why am I so much more important than- no! Don't doubt yourself! You have to do this! If it's the last thing I do, then so be it! At least I won't have to go on living this sham of a life!

I enter the Lab of my base and begin pressing buttons and pulling levers in specific patterns. It's so complicated that I had to give each and everything that did something a specific sound made whenever it was touched. Now it's much easier for me to remember what needs to be used after each, I just have to know the rhythm.

A large screen lowers into the room to reveal a figure wearing a black top hat. He has short, dark gray, wispy hair and very tanned skin. His face is obscured as always and as usual I can't tell how he's feeling. I can imagine him being slightly annoyed because of how difficult it is for him to find all of the light he's using so that I can see him.

"Ah, good to hear from you friend. How is everything going?"

"…"

"Well?"

*Ahem* "Oh-ah-well! Good! Everything's going good! Rain shape! Right as ship!" I sputter out. Man, I am so nervous about this.

"I think you mean, 'ship shape' and right as rain.' You seem nervous. You're not having second thoughts are you?"

"Second thoughts… no, I wasn't, I was just thinking-"

"Don't think, that's for me to do. You just need to follow my orders. Am I understood?" His voice is so intimidating sometimes that I can't even speak. No… it's impossible for me to be scared of him, I'm sure it's just my nerves.

"S-sure…"

"Good." He says, pleased at my obedience. "There is much to be done in many places. I've found a few individuals that will be able to assist you, and possibly more to come. Good luck, and may everything be rain shape, and right as ship as you put it so eloquently, hehehe." His laugh always creeps me out the most, it's just so rough and scratchy. Makes me wonder what my laugh sounds like. I can't remember, I haven't been able to find a reason to laugh in years.

I hit the same series of buttons backwards, following the rhythm, some sort of silent rhythm that I have to pay close attention to hear, and just as I'm about to hit the last lever, He tells me,

"Can you tell me the law in your first area?" I freeze and starting searching every part of my brain for it. This guy is scary when he's angry, and he doesn't even try to be! I am not disappointing him!

Let's see… come on… is it five… three… is it… aha!

"One is one, and all is all!"

"…" I feel his eyes on me, and the silence tells me that He's angry. He's the type who loves conversation, so this is completely unnatural for him.

"I-I mean, One is… all of one… no, I mean... all for one and one for… no, not the three musketeers… one… one is all-"

"…and all is one. Repeat it to me, that is one of the most basic laws you learn in that world, and since you'll be leading my subordinates, I need you to tell it to them."

"One is all, and all is one."

"Very good, dismissed!"

"Sir!" I shout before pulling down the lever and turning the monitor off. Then I let out a sigh of relief.

No point in drawing this out, I had better do this now. I walk out of the room and go into my room to meet whoever he managed to send to me.

The sooner I start, the sooner I finish.


	2. Travels

**Hey, a few notes. First, this is my first story for FMA, so tell me if I can improve (with character personalities and such) and also, tell me what you think of any characters I create. Read and review please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Fullmetal Alchemist, except for any characters I create.**

* * *

How humiliating. To think that I've been reduced to babysitting. Me? Karlin Raverce? Assigned to watch the activities of some runt, and help with whatever else needs to be done with him? I've hit the low point in my career.

Well, my career as a mercenary, my last job had ended much worse. I was a state alchemist in the north, quite renowned for my actions when I was stationed in the south. Unfortunately, an incident I don't like to think about occurred, and cost me my certification. It also cost me my freedom and rights as a human being, and landed me in prison. I only have my intelligence to thank for my… self-instated early release.

Everything went downhill from there. It turns out that my family, the supposedly loyal Raverce's, had disowned me and after my escape, promised the government that I'd be shipped straight to them should I try hiding with them.

This was just a warning though. It was given the "URGENT" message next to it because it was for me to see. Unfortunately, they know quite a bit about me and my habits, including gathering information in any place that I could, meaning that I had to try a different approach to maintaining my freedom.

That was how I decided to start accepting money from anyone willing to use my skills, and keep their mouths shut. I've had to shut a few mouths myself, but I managed to get by.

I was always known as a person who preferred being a leader, and I was a good one. I had actually served as a temporary leader in Briggs for a while when its official leader had been called away one month ago. I didn't have the 'Ice Queens' sway, or loyalty of her men, but I was efficient enough that they gave me some respect.

I still wonder what would be so urgent as to call Armstrong away from her post, especially since Drachma's been so hostile towards us. The oligarchy government leading the country is just sore because of that failed invasion they decided to call. They were made to look like fools.

Maybe that's why she was called away to that meeting. I have an idea of what it's about, but it's really just pointless conjecture unless I have proof.

Anyway, I'm here at some stupid train station with two other wacko's, scouting out this guy.

Then again, striking at the military's golden boy will be a good way to get back at them, and my employers even said that they'd have other jobs waiting for me, and I never know when I'll get my next paycheck.

Alright blondie, the next phase of my mission is coming up as soon as this train leaves.

All I've got to do is work with one guy here in distracting any guards or vigilante fools he might have while the other goes after our main target. I'm not really gonna bother getting to know names, I'm really bad with them.

I take a quick look at my equipment and make sure that the circle on it is ready. With all of my experience, and these people around, I have a bad feeling that this job is about to get really messy, really fast.

* * *

I take a deep breath in, hold it, than let it all out. Despite how happy I am, I'm just as nervous. How can I not be? Six months I've been hitchhiking around Xing, learning so much about the culture and lifestyles there that sometimes I worried about my head exploding.

Thankfully, I had some help from May while I was visiting Xing, including on my first stop Jing, Xing's capital country that controls the country, where the emperor stays in his palace. Emperor… I still can't say Emperor Ling without feeling a bit weird. Ling's nice and all, and Xing deserves an emperor like him but… well, this is the guy we found passed on the side of the road and ate us out of house and home.

When I first saw him serious, and in royal Xingese wear, I couldn't hide my shock. In fact, I didn't need to, because I was so shocked that I didn't move for about ten minutes. If Ling's speech meant for introducing those who were friends to the emperor hadn't been the same length, than it would have been strange.

Thank goodness I chose to head to the East, Brother would have broken into laughter the moment he met the new Emperor. And let's just say that the Xingese are very respectful to their leaders, and much less respectful to those who insult their leaders.

After the formalities, Ling insisted to have me over for a few days. He even had rooms meant for Zampano and Jerso. I really don't like imposing, but Ling was so forceful with the idea, I swear he would have gladly abused his power and locked me into a posh prison.

So we stayed, and because Ling was busy with other officials from different families, and Lan Fan never strayed far from him when she didn't have to, May was our guide.

The first time we saw each other two of us had spent an hour catching up, and we got into topics of all sorts of subjects, from alchemy, to alkahestry, to food, to how Xiao-Mei looked more like a cat than a panda. Just a fun, carefree conversation with a friend was enough to make me forget about how I had just barely survived crossing the desert between Amestris and Xing, or how they just finished a few railway systems between both countries right after the three of us had to trek through miles of blistering sand.

May was kind enough to help me understand the basics of alkahestry (after a long argument about how it didn't make sense to me) and Jerso was able to help me take notes. I intended to sift through a large mass of information we collected to find a method of getting him and Zampano's body's back to normal. Xing's famed healing arts could be the key.

Speaking of whom, he was really helpful gathering information on the anatomy of human's, and the animals that the two of them were made of.

The four of us managed to have some fun and games too. I learned the hard way that May was as dangerous with a handful of cards as she was with a handful of kunai, and she annihilated me in poker. I had introduced May to a few common sports from back home. The main source of exercise for kids here is running and martial arts.

All-in-all, my time spent there was a great way start to my travels, and despite leaving, I didn't leave Jing with a group of three. Ling was kind enough to point out some major alkahesterik research facilities, and insisted on sending May with us. She would act as a mentor to me for alkahestry, and as a representative of Ling's to the families running those areas. He had made some major changes among taking all fifty clans under his wing, so wanting someone he trusted to promote him makes sense.

The four of us travelled the country in order to gather as much knowledge as possible and spread our own as well. After months of travelling, we actually became a bit famous. The Princess, and the mysterious Amestrian foreigner, travelling with two 'demon guards.' It was pretty accurate for those two, they were definitely elite soldiers before they were turned into chimera's.

And now, the three of us are heading back. We circled around the country so that we could stop at several other facilities. It'll be nice to head back home, but a part of me regrets having to leave Xing. I really didn't have much time with Lan Fan or Li- Emperor Ling. I'll probably miss May the most-

"Hwaaaaaah~, mmmm… Alphonse…" I chuckle as May lets out a cute yawn in her sleep, with Xiao Mei snuggling up to her neck. We're sitting next to each other in one of the newly built train stations near the Palace. They were originally meant for cargo to be traded over the desert, but as long as you have the money to pay for a ride, you were allowed on. Xing had been making a booming profit off of recent immigration into the once distant country, and anything beats hiking over near endless dunes of sand.

Zampano had just arrived with tickets after storing some of our luggage onto the train, and was smiling at me for some reason.

"It looks like you two were getting comfy, aye?"

"Well, you were taking so long, so May passed out. And I'd really hate to wake her. She's been mumbling in her sleep about some heroic armored knight saving her from a monster. She's even holding onto me like he's real, isn't that funny?"

"…Yeah." He says, sitting down next to me. Why is it that he sounds surprised at me?

After a few minutes, Jerso arrives with a few paper boxes of food for the group. As if on cue, both May and Xiao Mei wake up to the smell of food. As soon as she sees that she's holding onto me, she jerks back looking really red. Whenever she's like this, I ask her if she has a fever, but she always stammers out a no. Red face, a stammer… is it some sort of Xingese cold? It sounded a bit ridiculous, but then so did alkahestry, and sensing the flow of life at first.

"A-a-a-alphonse! I'm sorry! I didn't know what I was doing!"

"No worries May, it's fine, but there's one thing I need to ask," I then ask her in a semi-serious tone, "Am I your Prince?" And her jaw drops, with her face turning an even deeper shade of crimson. I chuckle a little at her reaction, "Sorry, I'm just fooling around. You were grabbing onto me and talking about a knight in shining armor."

"Oh… yeah, a knight…" May said relaxing.

The four of us are about to start digging into the food, when Zampano shouts,

"Stop!" Eying it suspiciously.

"Is something wrong?" Zampano stared at what appeared to be some sort of pasta with bits of meat diced into it. I can't really tell what it used to be because of all of the spices added to it, changing its color to a dark brown.

Than all of a sudden his jaw drops and the food slips out of Zampano's hand.

"Not hun-" Zampano interrupts his sentence and grabs onto his dark blue jacket and starts shaking Jerso!

"What are you doing!" May shouts in surprise.

"How dare you do this to me! How dare you almost turn me into a cannibal!"

"Zampano, calm down! What are you going on about!" I shout, trying to calm them. I'm usually a good peace maker, but I can't calm everyone down. The two supposed 'comrades' are shouting at each other and ignoring everything around them, and May is trying to end their argument with some pointing and shouting of her own, with a small miming act from a certain miniature panda of hers.

"This is lo mein! That's the problem!" Everyone goes silent, and we just stare at him. All of the locals here are sure to avoid our group. We're speaking fluent Amestrian and fighting with food in our hands, so I'd imagine that they think we're all in a fight over the food, and May, a well renowned Princess, is trying to get us under control.

"May!" Zampano shouts, ignoring the stares, "What's usually used in Lo Mein?"

"Hm?" My looks up to the sky thoughtfully, "Well, let's see, basic ingredients for it are wheat noodles, vegtables, some sort of seafood, or possibly regular meat like chicken, beef, pork…" As soon as May stopped her sentence, I knew she came to the same conclusion that I had. Zampano was about to eat pork, and now he's mad at Jerso for it since he's part pig.

"I'm sorry, alright, now let me go!" Jerso says, forcing Zampano off of his jacket.

"Sorry! Are you serious? I almost ate my own kind! Do you remember how you reacted when I decided to try out some frog legs and you freaked out at me!"

"That was on a menu in clear Amestrian! You were blatantly going to eat frog in front of me, and I just pointed at what the vendor was selling! I didn't understand his Amestrian because of his thick Xingese accent, so I just picked-"

"Enough!" I shout, pushing myself between the two of them, "Just let it go, it doesn't matter what you eat now if you're going to be… yourselves again." I was careful to avoid the term 'human,' There were some Amestrian immigrants here as well, I didn't want the fact that these two are chimeras to get out, "Just go find a different vendor, and get something else. You two are friends, so act like it," I glared at the two of them with as much forcefulness as I could.

Both of them just shrug out an apology and walk away to find something else to eat. I sit down and take some more deep breaths.

"Are you alright?" May asks, more curious than concerned.

"Yeah, just annoyed at what those two were fighting about… they're great bodyguards, but as you know, on the rare occasion they fight with each other, they can be a handful. Thankfully, they'll be too busy trying to track down Darius and Heinkel to pop by and say 'Hi' to them while we're back home."

"Hmmm…"

"Something wrong?" I ask May.

"It's just… Well, you only stayed for a few month, and I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you two May, you're a great tutor, and I had a lot of fun with you here. I don't think I'd have enjoyed myself this much if I hadn't met up with you." May smiles and says,

"Thanks! Say Alphonse…"

"Hm?"

"I was just wondering… did you meet anyone that you… liked? You know, like liked?"

"Hm… no, no one. But I'm not about to give up anytime soon, I'm positive that I'll find a girlfriend someday."

"You will, don't worry Alphonse. You're one of the nicest guys I've ever met, not to mention the smartest. And, well, you're also… one of the most handsome…" May seems oddly nervous when saying that, and she's red again.

"Are you sure you aren't feeling well? We can catch the next train and I can take you to a doctor."

"Alphonse, I keep telling you I'm fine. I'm the picture of health, young and strong." May holds her arms up, pretending to flex, which Xiao Mei copies. I burst out laughing at her pose. "It's true!"

"I know, I know, hahaha! It's just… your pose… hahahaha!"

"Well, I'm happy to entertain you." May said lightly, giggling herself.

After that, the only talking done was between those going through the station. The fact that I wouldn't see her for who knows how long had finally begun to sink in, and I couldn't think of anything else to say to her. I just observed how May had grown.

She had been twelve when we had met, and now she had recently turned fifteen. She had traded her pink clothes for a red… well, it's sort of like a dress, but more form fitting and strapped over her chest. May had changed her hair style from long braids to smaller ones that were tied to form small circles, and she's gotten taller and… more womanly, so to speak. It's hard to believe that someone can grow this much in just two years.

Though I'm not one to talk. I remember being barely anything but skin and bones, and in the same amount of time, my skin regained its color, I had put on plenty of muscle thanks to all of the hours of physical therapy to help me walk again and relearn all sorts of basic motor skills. Thanks to the red jacket he gave me as a parting gift (it isn't my favorite color, but it reminds me of him) I resemble Brother a lot. I remember when we were younger, people thought we were twins.

Suddenly, I hear the train's whistle, and stand up to start walking towards Zampano who's waving me over. But first,

"Thanks again May, I've had a good time with you" and I hug her. May's a bit surprised, but she gladly hugs back, and as we release each other she says,

"Before I forget, check your luggage later on, you'll find a surprise."

"My luggage?"

"Mmhm!" May nods in unison with Xiao-Mei, "But promise not to check it until you're far away from Xing,"

"Why can't I check it now?"

"Because!"

"Why because?"

"Because I said so." May says, crossing her arms indignantly, mimicked as usual by Xiao-Mei.

"Move it Al! The train isn't going to wait forever!" Zampano's yelling prompts me to leave.

"Bye Al, I'll miss you!"

"You still never told me why-"

"_Bye_ Al,"

*Haaah* "Bye May, I'll try and see you soon."

"I know! I'll hold you to it!" I make a dash to the train as May waves me off, and manage to leap in as it's pulling out.

The inside of the train isn't much to look at. It's really just an empty cart with a few people inside of it.

I heard that there were seats in some of the other carts farther back near the cargo, but those are probably all jam packed. The other carts in front probably have a few stragglers that didn't get on the train soon enough as well.

Well, anything's better than travelling on foot in the desert.

Then, when I notice two familiar faces and wave them over, I know for sure that this was a good idea.

**If you found this a bit boring, it's more or less part of the intro, it'll get more interesting later on.**


	3. Why?

**Well, here's the third chapter, hope everyone reading it enjoys, and please review! Reviews always inspire me to write more!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Fullmetal Alchemist, except for any characters I create.**

* * *

Let's see how everything is running today.

As usual, all soldiers are at their posts, on the lookout for any enemies that have the balls to make an attempt at taking my country.

Finishing my daily inspection of the fort, I can't see anything that needs improvement at a first glance… I had better check the charts to be sure.

Let's see… supplies have flowed in at a record pace, keeping everyone perfectly satiated… All guns have been inspected and none have been unloaded, all are prepared to fire, mortars included… no reports of truancy or of suspicious activity over the border… and research is…

What in hell's name am I observing!? I pick up the phone and dial the number to the inner line to the research labs.

"Hello? Major General Armstrong? To what do I owe this pleasure?" I hear the annoying chirping of the lead scientist at Fort Briggs. I don't particularly like him, but he gets the job done. At least that's what I thought.

"I was just observing the statistics charts that are sent to me comparing each months productivity rate to the last, and I was just reading the latest one."

"Let me guess, you were calling to tell me how impressed you are with my progress, aren't you? Ohohoho!"

"No, quite the opposite actually."

"Eh?"

"Is that all you have to say? 'Eh'? So, it seems you haven't noticed that the measured progress has gone down by point zero two percent have you? "

"Erm… does it matter?" I can feel my teeth grinding at this man's obvious negligence. He has the nerve to let our work force slack even the slightest? Has he no pride in the Briggs name!?

"Actually, yes it does. You see, every morning, I make myself very clear when I say that I only want one-hundred percent effort from everyone staying in this fortress." I say sternly,

"Crystal, sir."

"Tell me, Doctor, why are you lying to me?"

"Erm… lying Sir?"

"Yes, lying." I pick up a glass of water and continue talking. You said that you listen to my daily announcements about keeping up an effort of one-hundred percent, but you have the nerve to let it drop down to ninety-nine point zero eight percent. Not very crystal clear if you ask me." My grip tightens on the glass in hand.

"Eh?"

"Again, that's your answer to me? 'Eh'? You said that you listened to my daily announcements of how every one needs to give it their all each day, yet the productivity has gone down. What do you think of this?"

"Well, it isn't really anything importa-" Then my anger is released, first on the glass in my hand, crushing it, and then on this foolish doctor,

"You think it doesn't matter? Briggs fortress is like a machine, for it to function at full capacity, each part of it needs to be running at one-hundred percent, which you obviously have not!"

"But… but…" I swear I can almost hear him crying on the other end of this phone, and this gets me even angrier.

"But nothing. You are going to get yourself and any derelict workers of your back up to full throttle, do I make myself _completely_ clear?" I slam my fist onto my desk, loud enough for him to hear it apparently,

"Yes Sir! I understand!" I smile slightly at the doctor's newfound discipline, but I need to give him a proper punishment for slowing things down.

"By the way, how has the new tank model been coming along recently? When do you think it will be complete?"

"Well, at the current rate we're going at, I'd say… erm, let's see… about three months."

"I see. You have one month to complete it."

"Wh-what!? But sir, that simply isn't possible!"

"Then make it possible!" I shout standing up, letting my chair fall behind me. "If you want to keep your position, you will manage with the time limit that I gave you! Otherwise I will personally come down there, strip you of your position, and kick you out into the cold and snow myself! Now I suggest you start working, and unless you break both of your arms, there is no excuse for slacking!" Than I slam the phone down, and pick my chair up, sitting at my desk with a grimace.

When people come to Briggs, I am always explicitly clear with the fact that I will not tolerate less than a person's best.

Then the phone rings and I feel a vein bulging on my head. I told that lead scientist no slacking!

"What did I just say! You had better have two shattered arms at this moment!"

"Ouch… ow… good to hear from you too Major General Armstrong. Does a broken eardrum count?" My eyes go slightly wide, surprised at the voice that I'm hearing. He was once a skilled alchemist and a former member of the northern forces. Also, he was competent enough to run Briggs for a brief period of time.

"Karlin Raverce. To what do I owe this displeasure." I say, as I reach for a small keyboard and silently press a code into it. This is for alerting my men to perform any type of act while I'm on the phone so the enemy doesn't notice. At the moment, I just sent them a message to tap this phone call and track it.

"Oh, just wanted to do a bit of catching up with an old colleague. How have things been holding up? I hear that relations with Drachma are still as rocky as ever, despite the fact that you've actually managed to let their attack on Amestris pass without repercussions."

I need to keep him talking, maybe I can get some information on what he's been doing recently. "Indeed, the few and the powerful are full of contempt for our country as a whole for destroying their forces, but I will never apologize to them. When you mess with my country, I can promise that you won't get away with it unscathed."

"They really kicked a hornet's nest, didn't they? Violating the nonaggression treaty _and_ failing has made Drachma look violent, and weak, not to mention stupid for how unprepared their forces were."

"Indeed. So what have you been up to? The last time I heard about you, you had snuck out of a maximum security prison. Care to tell me how you managed that?"

"Nah, I don't want to bore you. It wasn't some complicated breakout plot."

"Still, I'm interested. You weren't in the tightest security, but one doesn't exactly waltz out of a prison without a clear plan."

*Haah* "Always want to find new ways to stay ahead of your enemy's, don't you? Even if they're put way. Very well, all I did was do some smart trading with some contraband using some food my family sent me. I did checks on the routes of the guards each day, and their positions, and at the day and time when the least were guarding my cell block, I used a makeshift lock pick to unlock the cell. The rest was luck, I searched around for the changing room, avoiding any guards, and happened upon a spare uniform."

"And with that, you walked out. That's been boggling minds up in Central ever since you escaped. It's a shame your intelligence couldn't be used for something more productive."

"You're not even impressed that I did this within a week of imprisonment? *Brrr* Cold."

The door opens up and a soldier walks in saluting, silently wording out that they've tracked Karlin's location.

"By the way, how has tracking my location been going? Found me yet?" I can feel my body stiffen up with shock, "Hahaha, I know you aren't going to tell me, you're too smart for that, or the old, 'ask how that person knows about it and reveal it without thinking' trick."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I say, slightly disgruntled. It seems I'll have to make a few revisions to ensure he doesn't take advantage of that knowledge any time soon.

"Major General Armstrong, you're talking with a fugitive who escaped from jail, there's no way you wouldn't try tracking me. And about guessing the time, I ran Briggs too once, remember? You hammered all of the requirements of leading it into my skull, and I remember reporting to you about how I tracked a dangerous assassin once. I also recall how long it took to track that person, and how long until a soldier told me that they had successfully tracked him. But enough of that, there's just something I need to get off my chest." Karlin say, getting very serious,

I gesture at the soldier to go away, and type in another message on my silent keyboard to send troops to that location immediately. "What is it? If you hope that I put in a good word for you when you're captured for your crime, you're sorely mistaken."

"Major General Armstrong, tell me, do you honestly think that I'm capable of viciously killing ten people without a good reason in cold blood? Let alone an entire family?"

I don't respond to that. More like, as a member of the military, I shouldn't agree with a fugitive. When he was on trial, Karlin stated that the trial was rigged against him. The way the prosecutor kept knocking down Karlin's defense so easily, it was as if he expected each argument. And the deliberation with the jury lasted a scant ten minutes, murder trials usually leave a jury debating about it for at least an hour.

I have a bad feeling that there may be a resurrection of government corruption on the rise, but for now I need to focus on bringing Karlin to justice. I may not be sure about the murder charges, but he escaped prison, a crime he needs to be judged for.

"Anyway, that's not why I called. I need to apologize."

"An apology? So are you admitting to the crime?"

"No, I'm apologizing for future events. I've been a mercenary for hire ever since I left, and I feel that I've stuck my foot into something big. Bigger than either of us, or anyone else. Most likely even bigger than Amestris itself."

"Well, why don't you just stop instead of going forward with whatever this is?"

"I can't go into detail, but you'll hear about the first incident soon enough, which will prove what the people I'm with are capable of. Then again, I use the term people lightly..."

In the background I can hear a high-pitched ring go off,

"Well, there's the whistle. Major General Armstrong, odds are that the next time you see me, I'll be stuffed into a body bag. I wanted to say that it has been an honor serving under you, despite the briefness."

"Stop talking like that," I scoffed, "No soldier of mine is going to accept death so willingly former or not. You obviously can't go into detail about what this is, but I expect you to stay alive. However, that is simply so I can capture you myself. If you try messing with Amestris, all of those willing to fight for its people will retaliate."

"…Major General Armstrong, you never cease to inspire. Good luck putting a stop to us." The line goes dead, and I dial another number on my phone to ask how it is going with sending the forces. Karlin may be smart, but he didn't think that I'd hear the train. It can just be stopped and he can be apprehended then and there.

"Alright, give me an exact time for when you reported the fugitive Karlin's location to Central, and tell me how long they stated it would take to send over soldiers to apprehend him."

"Erm… well Sir, we reported it about three minutes ago, but Central can't send any soldiers over to his location."

"What! Why not!? This man can't be taken lightly, his Alchemy is extremely dangerous and could put hundreds at risk! What possible reason could they have for not sending troops over to where he is!?"

"Well… it isn't under Amestris' jurisdiction. He was calling at a train station outside of the country, so the most that can be done is alert the country he's occupying and ask for him to be handed over." So that's why he called, because of how limited our power is in a foreign country.

"Dammit…" I mutter under my breath. I don't get it, what could he do to shake up this country so much when he isn't even in it? "Well, do you know what country this is, at least?"

"Ah, yes, it was… the country of Creta."

Creta… what could possibly be there? Karlin wouldn't have risked calling me about this unless it somehow affected me… wait a moment… wait…

"Call Central, and have them bypass the government of Creta as soon as possible! If you cannot, pressure them into sending their forces after the former State Alchemist Karlin Raverce! I have reason to believe that he is going to be involved in an attempt at Edward Elric's life!"

To think that you'd ever try something like this… what could be the reason behind it? Karlin, who the hell are you working for, and why would they want to do anything to the hero of Amestris?

* * *

"Hey! Lieutenant Hawkeye and… Sheska?" Both of them turn around at smile at seeing me. I notice that the two of them are out of uniform and in casual clothes, Lieutenant Hawkeye wearing a brown set if shorts and a short sleeve brown shirt and holding a rather large brown suitcase, while Sheska has a regular grey shirt and short-cut jeans.

What could they be doing here together?

"Alphonse, it's good to see you, you're looking well."

"Likewise, I haven't seen anyone from back home since the going away party you gave us. How has work been going Lieutenant? And what about you Sheska?"

"Actually Alphonse, I've been promoted twice since you left. Technically I'm supposed to be addressed as Captain Hawkeye, but at the moment, I'm not a soldier, just a friend. Quit being so formal and please, call me Riza."

"Okay Cap- I mean… Riza…" It really sounds strange calling her by her first name…

"And Things have been peaceful. Unfortunately, Roy has been working himself to death, his staff included. He's been addressing so many issues at once, he's just lucky that he has me and his most loyal men helping him out."

"And I'm still grounded at Private, but feel free to address me as Private Sheska. My mother has been doing well, and she may even get better soon!"

"That's great! Have you still been doing the same job of keeping records Sheska? I hope you haven't been getting yourself trapped in books." I say joking.

"Erm… Private Sheska… and my work has been going great! I work a bit with delivering files too and reviewing them, getting a little lost in them sometimes… or a lot… but otherwise, same old, same old! I'm okay with that since I'm so good at! Yep! How have things been in Xing?" She seemed to rush that last part… I guess old habits die hard, huh Sheska?

"Oh, fine, three of us… where did they…" I look around to see Jerso and Zampano staring out the window.

"I swear I saw it!"

"Zampano, I don't see anything…"

"He's not there now! I know what I saw!"

"What you saw was sand, sand, and more sand. You just imagined it, let it go."

"But I'm serious!"

"What's wrong guy's?" I ask.

"He's hallucinating." Jerso says, pointing to Zampano with his thumb.

"No! I'm serious! It was real!"

"What was?"

"A tiny green man with a big toothy grin just flew by the train! He was talking into some sort of glowing thing, and when I turned to call Jerso over, he was gone…"

The entire room was silent, and after not getting any response, Zampano shouts, "I'm not crazy!" and then everyone sweatdrops,

_If you knew that… did you really have to say it when no one else questioned you?_

Both go back to discussing… whatever Zampano saw, and I go back to talking.

"Anyway, Sheska, these guys are my friends and bodyguards Jerso and Zampano…" Though, they don't look like the most professional pair right now… "We've gathered a ton of information on alkahestry from all over Xing, and I learned… thanks to May…" Suddenly, I felt a sharp surge of sadness. I didn't realize it, but I was really going to miss May's company,

"A-anyway, why are you two here? And why are you together?"

"Oh, well you see, Sheska has been helping me with delivering documents to of mine to certain military officials. I managed to get two round trip tickets for me and a friend, but she couldn't come. So I decided that she would like to, and offered her the ticket. We've been here for about a week, and our vacations just about over. If only we didn't have to spend the last of it travelling back to work… why are you heading home Alphonse?"

"Well, as both of you know, I was planning to spend at least a few more months in Xing, but I received a letter from Winry."

"A letter… could I see it?" Sheska asks,

"Sure," I take the letter out from my pocket and Shaska starts reading it out loud,

_Dear Al,_

_How have you been doing in Xing? I hope that your research has been going well. I hope you haven't spent every minute you were there studying. Thanks for always sending a letter to tell me where you'll be by the time I get it, I just hope that this letter reaches you. Something strange is going on, something bad. I don't know how to describe it, but there just seems to be this ominous air everywhere. I hate to ask, but I was hoping that you could come home, just to help me calm down. If you can't I understand, just send a letter. I sent the same to Ed, so hopefully the three of us can get together. I hope you're doing well, and I can't wait to hear from you next._

_Always missing you, Winry._

"Hmmm… interesting… Alphonse, when was this letter sent?" Lieut- I mean Cap- I mean Riza asks.

"Erm… it's dated at about two months ago, and I got it sent to me last month. I was just lucky Ling has so many connections, otherwise it might never have found me."

"Two months? You're sure?"

"I threw out the letter it was delivered in, but I have a good memory. Definitely two months. Why?" Riza's face suddenly seems concerned. She doesn't answer me, but something tells me she can't. Sheska doesn't seem to know about it, but she is pretty low ranked, so she wouldn't be privy to any classified information…

"What the hell!" I hear Jerso shout,

"Ha! See! Guys, come over here!"

Me, Sheska, and Riza run over to the window to see what all of the commotion is about, and… it… it looks like Zampano wasn't seeing things…

Outside of the window, I see a small green man is flying near the train. He has a big smile on his face, but he also has a big red cape on that's flapping in the wind, and thick swirly glasses. And his helmet has some odd rectangular attachment on top… it's also letting fly somehow!

Then, he lets out a high pitched cackle, and the rectangular piece suddenly turns into a smiling toothy mouth. Then, the mouth shoots out some sort of pale ball with green dots on it. I'm confused by what's going on, but when it explodes on contact, shaking up the train, I realize we're under attack.

The question is, why?

* * *

**Well, I hope that was interesting. Can anyone guess who the character flying outside of the train was? A digital cookie goes to anyone who knows!**


	4. Green

**And here's the next one. Anything you'd like to ask me to do? Should I make the chapters longer? If you have anything you'd like to tell me, that's hat reviews are for :) And I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Fullmetal Alchemist, except for any characters I create.**

* * *

Another bomb hits the train, causing it to shake. The hull is dense enough to endure it, but only because that thing flying out there isn't concentrating the bombs.

Damn, this was just supposed to be a simple trip to Xing, kept secret to make sure that no one followed us. What kind of explosives are those anyway?

As that flying thing out there keeps bombing the train, and the five of us struggle to keep our balance, something catches my eye that makes me think that shooting that laughing… thing out of the sky isn't all that needs to be done.

"Riza, can do you have any-" I flip open my suitcase to reveal a huge arsenal of rifles and handguns of all types. Al just gapes at the collection,

"Please Al, do you expect me to be unprepared for anything?" I say, loading as many guns as I can as quickly as possible,

"Zampano, Jerso, turn into your beast forms and get ready to fight."

**"Huh?"** They say simultaneously, and after the train gets hit again, I say

"Just do it! Sheska, you may want to turn away,"

"From wha…" But before she can look away, the two of them start changing forms, Zampano's face morphing, and spikes jutting out from his back, Jerso's skin changing color, and the final results of both. Sheska simply drops her jaw in shock, but I give her a slap across the face to get her attention. We can't afford her spacing out, and these bombs keep coming,

"Sorry, but here," I hand Sheska a handgun causing her to bug out.

"A gun! B-but Riza, I've never used a gun outside of target practice I-" Another bomb goes off, and I give everyone orders,

"Sheska, Jerso, listen to me. The doors to each train car are locked until we arrive at the station to prevent any accidents, but I'm going to need you two to confirm the safety of the other passengers in the carts farther back."

"But-" another bomb interrupts Al, "But why, you think he's after them?" He continues slightly frantic,

"Maybe, and if he is that doesn't mean that he's the one who's going after them." Everyone gives me a confused look, so it looks like I need to clarify the obvious,

"Haven't you noticed all of these passengers?" The four of them look at the few people in the car with us. All of them are wearing ragged robes covering their bodies, but one characteristic strikes me as suspicious,

"Wh… why is everyone so calm?" Sheska asks, and I silently wonder the same thing myself,

I've seen these sorts of things go awry. Civilians aren't normally trained to be prepared for any incident, so whenever there is so much as a warning of a possible threat, there's at least some panic. Even if they're good at keeping their cool, they'd have to be as shocked as us by such a sudden appearance.

Then, without warning, one of them leaps at Al at a breakneck pace, preparing to punch him. Zampano's reflexes are still sharp, considering how he was able to knock the person away. It rolls back, but uses the momentum to stand back up and enter a fighting position. Then, in unison, all of the people take off their robes and reveal that they're… just like the thing constantly launching bombs at the train.

All of them have a humanoid body composition, with thick muscles, obviously they're meant for close combat. But… what makes them inhuman is the fact that they're all green like that thing flying out there, and wearing some sort of martial arts robes colored the same type of red as that flying creature out there. They even all have the same wide toothy grins and swirled glasses' it has.

"Al, Zampano, I need the two of you to guard me! I'm going to take this guy out, but I'm gonna need time! With the train shaking around, it's gonna be hard to get a clear hit! And be prepared for any others that are going to force their way into the passengers cars, there were stragglers like this in the last three cars behind us, and there are a few in the first four cars in front of us!"

I look at Jerso and Sheska, "Both of you have your orders, now go, and take out the things in the other three cars behind us before they reach the passengers! From the way those things are eying the door, that's probably who their after."

Both of them nod, and Jerso starts pounding on the door, trying to ram it down. Sheska is standing a few feet away from him, both so she doesn't accidentally get hit by him, and because she's afraid of him.

Al claps his hands together and transmutes a metal staff from the trains steel, leaving an indentation in the floor. Zampano launches some spikes at the green creatures, but even though they're bleeding some dark green mush, which I assume is they're blood, they are only slowed down out because they were examining their wounds, but most likely out of some sort of odd curiosity. I wonder if they even realize that they've gotten hurt.

As those two duke it out with the mad army before them, and Sheska and Jerso break through the door for the next car, I pick up a rifle from my case, shutting it. I can't risk any of those things grabbing a gun of mine.

That being said, what are these things? Are they even natural creatures? They aren't immortal like any homunculi, but… they could be some sort of variation of Mannequin Dolls… and what does that make this one flying outside of the train?

No matter. This is one of the few times that I'm going to need to shoot first and ask questions later. I open up a window on the train and, ignoring the wind and some sand flying into my face, aim my gun to fire at it,

Then, the creature looks directly at me, shoots a bomb at the train causing me to miss my shot, and laughs at me, surprising me with some odd words,

"I HAVE CHORTLES!" Than it laughs again and says, "I laugh at your tries that accomplish nothing that are meant to do stopping!" I fire another round at this creep, but it anticipates my move and flies out of the way,

"Give me the information that is which I seek, says Fawful. Or you shall have the joy, which is not at all joyous, of feeling my wrath pour down on you as salt would on a delicious sandwich that is my victory!" Fawful…? That's who he is? And the information he's seeking…

"I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about. Please, call off your allies before my friends seriously injure them."

"Ehehehehe!" I had hoped that I would be able to resolve this peacefully since this is a coordinated attack and the leader has a specific goal. If it were some rebel group, they would be attacking the train just to prove a point. Both fortunately and unfortunately, this person has a specified priority in mind.

The good side being that I know what his objective is, thanks to him telling me. The bad side is that I'm aware of the means he'll go to get what I have in my suitcase…

* * *

"EEK!" I screech as some sort of green thing knocks me towards a window. Thankfully, Jerso uses his super sticky spit to lodge it onto the wall… ew…

To think that I was sent on what was supposed to be a simple "vacation," without incident, but here I am holding a gun fighting against a small army of green… whatever's with a yellow… something!

As Jerso continues to fight those things, I struggle to stand up and over hear some sort of conversation going on outside the train out of an open window near me.

"I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about. Please, call off your allies before my friends seriously hurt them." I hear Riza say… well Captain Riza at the moment. She really doesn't care, but right now, she's a soldier.

"Ehehehehe!" I hear the flying creature laugh, "I do not care about them, your battling is the purpose of my making the Fawfighters. Looks that are seen on their faces are but copied images that are merely Fawful himself and his good looks. Do you have comprehension?" Riza keeps trying to land a shot on him, but that weird mouth helmet of his just keeps moving… Fawful around and bombing the train, shaking it up. She's getting close, but she still isn't hitting her mark.

"In other words, what happens to them doesn't matter to you. I get it."

"There is much rightness in your answer. Ehehehehe!" Fawful's laughter is cut short by another bullet from the Captain. I decide that I should concentrate on my own problems and turn round to look at the so-called 'Fawfighters.' But Jerso has already taken care of them, they look pretty well beaten and all of them are glued to the wall, but struggling furiously,

"We need to get moving, come on!" Jerrso says, and when he notices me hesitiating, he shrugs and says, "Look, I know I may not look like it, but I was human once before. The reason me and Zampano came to Xing with Al was so we could get our original bodies back. I understand if you're scared, but save it for later. We need to take care of these… these…"

"Fawfighters." He gives me a very confused look, and I tell him about what I overheard. He just focuses on getting through to the next car. As Jerso pounds on the door, I notice the Fawfighters struggling like crazy to get loose from Jerso's spit,

"U-um, what about them, they'll get loose if we don't take care of them,"

"We've got to make sure that the passengers are safe before anything else! Besides, these things seem to be nearly impossible to kill, and I don't want you to have to waste any bullets on them!" That's right, I may actually have to shoot someone…

As Jerso breaks through to the next car, we stumble into in trying to ignore the explosions and shaking going on a few cars over. As Captain Riza predicted, all of the Fawfighters are fighting to get into the next car, punching and kicking the door.

"I'm on it." Jerso quickly charges at the Fawfighters who notice him coming and all enter a fighting stance. They outnumber him, meaning that he'll have trouble fighting them… am I going to have to shoot one of those things to help?

Then, all of a sudden, the door explodes, blowing the Fawfighters away, who get knocked into Jerso. I manage to dodge a few stray ones that come flying at me though.

I look into the train to see some more Fawfighters and three other characters in the train, one of them holding several weapons towards the Fawfighters and other two figures. Who is that person? Did she cause that explosion?

"Wh-what the hell…! What are you doing here?" Jerso says in total shock.

Just who is that person?

* * *

**Well, what do you think? And to those who missed the chance, you can get a digital cupcake if you can tell me what series Fawful is from (and if you happen to accidentally search his name on Google and accidentally find it that way, than I may accidentally overlook it... accidentally) Read and Review!**


	5. SnickerSnack

**Hey, this takes place in the car mentioned at the end of last chapter, just so you know. Read and Review! Any reviews I get motivate me to write faster!**

* * *

"Hmph, that's quite a waste, isn't it?" Everyone looks at me, wondering what I mean, "The wall that this woman destroyed. It most likely took a long time to build," I turn to face the woman to ask, "Why did you destroy that door with those odd knives?"

"Erm, can't this wai-" This person that I have been forced to work with must not have had very good discipline with his lack of manners. He shouldn't interrupt a conversation, at least for something as trivial as attacking a train. Honestly

"I did it because you're attacking the train! You just happened to dodge, and I destroyed the wall. Now if you're done trying to distract me, you may want to surrender." The black haired girl says, getting in a fighting stance,

"I'm afraid that that can't be done," My accomplice and the green men in red are observing the two of us as I talk, "But back to the topic at hand, did you destroy the wall on purpose, or because you couldn't stop yourself from leaning on that odd circle you draw on the floor?"

"Erm… because I wanted to…"

"But the purpose of your attack was to harm us, but those knives of yours missed, meaning that you improvised and destroyed the wall… why?"

The girl's stance falters slightly, and she answers, "Well… to show you what I can do."

"I see, well that's rather boastful of you, showing off your power-"

"Hey, I am not-"

"_Do not interrupt me! If you're not careful, you're lack of manners could get you killed someday, I'll see to that!_" I growl, shocking everyone, as I accidentally let my temper get the better of me… as always, Cheshire's advice, while irritating, is spot on as always,

'Now, now, Alice, keep a clear mind. Thoughts are like air, when fogged up and obscured, it becomes difficult to see what you need to do. Even if the solution to a problem is right in front of you, what you're feeling can completely block it from you if you aren't careful,'

One of the many cryptic pieces of advice I receive from him regularly. The day I get a straight answer out of that silly feline will be the day I decide to quit drinking tea.

*Ahem* "Sorry about that. Anyway, not only are you being quite boastful, but aren't you also being wasteful and destructive? That door was very good at it's job, and could have been broken apart and turned into a number of ther appliances, but now bits of it are in the desert."

"I don't want to hear destructive from you! Now if you don't come at me, I will show you how good I am at martial arts!"

"Threats as well? If you're always like this, I prefer being your enemy over being your guest at dinner." The girl makes good on her word and comes at me, kicking me, but one of the… oh what were they called… Fawfighters? It grabbed her leg, however it's physical strength became it's weakness, because she was able to lift her other foot up to give him a swift kick in the head.

The other three creatures join in the fray, trying to hit the agile woman.

And by trying, I mean trying, as in they're only making attempts to hit her, which all fail.

She arms herself with one of those interesting knives in her right hand, leaving her left open. As one green creature clasps its fists together and brings them down on her head. However, she quickly jumps back, grabs four more knives off of her person, and tosses them into the green creatures chest, and before it can react, she puts her hands on the odd circle she drew and the creature is lit on fire.

Then, as the other attempts to bring it's foot down on top of her, she stands up, arms herself with another knife before slashing it through the green creatures chest and punching it in the jaw, causing it to fall into the one that's in the middle of it's own incineration.

If I know anything, it's that fire has a ravenous appetite and is always happy to snack on any orsels it can lick up. With this logic, the flames catch on then onto the creature, and now both of them are on fire. At the moment, there is one left that isn't injured that attacks her, however, I have a feeling that that won't be the case at eall.

As the girl furiously beats the green creature with a series of melee attacks, I let my mind wander about other things.

Firstly being how good a fighter this girl is. Whatever this Xing country is like, I doubt I'll be very interested in travelling to it. Where I come from, ladies are taught how to properly curtsy, the only thing they typically have to carve up is a roasted fowl of some sort.

I am, of course, an exception to this. I've had to fight through my mind and all of the madness clogging it up. I'm still not entirely free of it…

After one last kick to the head, the creature stops moving. Then, without warning, it enters an odd pose, convulses for a few seconds, and explodes into colorful stars. Odd, though I like it. It's much better than the way things normally die, much less bloody.

"Dammit…" My accomplice says, "Hey, you two, quit thrashing on the floor and get her! We'll take care of the flames later!" The two obey and attack, however the girl doesn't move. She just presses her hands on the circle again and one of the creatures explosde in a mix of fire and stars, the other one exploding from being caught in the blast.

My accomplice's face is still covered by a dark robe he's wearing, but I can still tell he's shocked.

"Now, tell me who you are!" She says, taking a step towards us. One of us jumps back, while the other says,

"Cowardly fool, at least pretend to be a vertebrae," I tell my accomplice glaring, and walk towards the girl, crossing my arms, "And you, it's common courtesy to introduce oneself before asking for another's,"

"…"

"Well?"

"Um… I'm May Chang…"

I then reach out my right hand and say, "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms Chang, I'm Alice Liddel." She gives my hand a confused look, "Well, shake it. I don't bite."

Ms Chang grabs my hand and shakes it. As she lets go, she asks, "So, are we going to fight?"

Then, in a flash I whip my hand towards her and my Vorpal Blade materializes in it, aimed at the girl's neck. However, she manages to use another one of her knives to block it, though just barely.

She tries punching me, but I simply back away from her,

"Why did you attack me, I asked you a question!"

"I thought the attack itself sufficed as an answer," Then preparing myself for battle.

"My knife goes snicker-snack," I say, "What do yours do?"

* * *

The odd woman, known as Alice, holds her knife threateningly, and I hold my kunai, prepared for anything she may try.

Why are these people here? What could they possibly gain from this train. There can't be anything of much value here. These trains are new and not bery secure, so more expensive goods are traded in caravans. And who are these people anyway?

The man wearing the dark robe is a big question mark, but he doesn't seem like the bravest soul.

Alice, however, is different.

She's a thin girl with an odd accent and a unique wardrobe. She's wearing a striped long-sleeve shirt with colors alternating between a dirty white and a greyish color. She has a dark grey dress on, black stockings, black shoes with buckles, all covered by a dirty white apron. Her skin is pale, there are dark circles around her eyes, her hair is short and messy.

Overall, she looked pretty sickly, though looks can be deceiving since she just tried to attack me.

"You want to know what my kunai does?" Then I start my attack shouting, "What ever I want!"

I make an attempt to stab Alice with my kunai, she moves ever so slightly to the right so that it misses, grabs my arm, and then tries to bring the tip of her knife into the other side of my arm, but I pull my arm in my direction, and use the momentum to send my knee into Alice's stomach. She stumbles back in pain, but still able to fight.

Alice dashes towards my and swings her knife at my neck. I bend back to avoid it, then bend forward to stab her with my kunai. She deflects it, and attempts to stab my right side, but I'm also able to deflect her blow.

Then I attempt to cut into her torso, but Alice, being a thin girl, bends it in just enough to miss my knife, getting away with a small cut on her skin.

For a whole minute, it becomes the one person attacking, then the other defending or dodging, then that person attacks and the other person defends or dodges, and so on.

Then, Alice gets creative and raises her knife up with the point down, and brings it down on my head. I roll backwards out of the way and then take out a second kunai and rush towards Alice, and begin an all-out assault.

I start hitting her from every angle and direction that I can, preventing Alice from going on the offensive, and pushing her back.

Her skill with the knife is impressive considering I'm not holding back and she only has a single blade, but she can't win against me as long as my plan works.

Several feet behind Alice is the hole that I made. It seemed a bit excessive, I'll admit, but I'm about to put it to good use.

As soon as I get Alice near the edge of the hole, I'll be able to threaten her into surrendering, saying that if she doesn't I'll push her into the desert. I don't plan to though, and I really don't want to do it either.

Alice, glances behind her for just a split second and then her eyes go wide, and she starts fighting back against me. She must have figured it out.

The next thrust I make, Alice dodges to the right of the kunai in my right are _just_ enough to miss the blade. Then she runs past me, trying to get to safety. But it works against her.

I push my left leg off the ground and, using the momentum, start to pivot around with my left leg lifted. Then I stretch my leg out and just when Alice was about to get out of my range, my foot knocks the wind out of her and sends her flying into the side of the train.

Finally, it's over. I take a breath and store my two kunai into my satchel, looking at the defeated girl.

It looks like I hit her pretty badly. Alice is in a daze and slowly sliding down the window and wall, leaving a trail of blood on both. Plus, the window is cracked.

"You put up a good fight, but you just couldn't win." I say to her, "You pulled a fast one on me running past my blade at that last second, but in the end, you were just setting yourself up for failure. I'm sorry to say, but you never really stood a chance."

I turn around to go help Jerso fight off those creatures, when I hear a voice that is calm, but very angry,

"You think I've lost?"

I spin around to see Alice standing up, with no blood on her head… but that's not what shocks me. What shocks me is her appearance.

Her outfit has changed to a vibrant blue dress with a pure, bleach white apron, save for a few spots of blood. The apron has two odd symbols on its pockets, a circle with some sort of cross on top and a bizarre four. She also has a silver symbol of a weird upside-down half circle. She's wearing striped black and white stockings, and high boots with many buckles on them. Her skin has gotten more color in it, her hair is longer and more well kempt, and there are no circles around her eyes. In fact, her eyes may have been the only thing hat haven't changed about her.

That and her clearly angry expression.

"I… I thought you were unconscious…"

"I was, but I still managed to hear you through my own little world, and so did some residents of mine. And since they're in my head, they're as upset at you as I am, and their rants won't stop until I amend that." What is she talking about, this girl's insane!

Alice gets back into her fighting stance,

"What makes you think you can defeat me this time?"

"Simply because I can. It's because of three reasons," I thought it was just because she could?

"One, you only happened to get me into a tight spot, which was why you knocked me out. Two, since you can't know me out, I'll stay conscious, and able to fight. Here, if you're so smart and have already predicted who will win, tell me, why were you so stupid as to not realize that there are only two people in this car!"

Okay, the first one made sense, the second… sort of, and the third… wait, where'd the robed man go? I look around, and notice a window open.

"Dammit!" I shouted, and ran for the window, but stop and stumble back, yelping in shock, when Alice's blade flies right past my face.

I look at it disappear, and turn to Alice to see it reappear. What kind of kitchen knife is that!

"I suggest you refrain from doing anything funny, because I am hardly in a laughing mood."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from FMA, FMAB, Mario and Luigi, r the Alice book or video game series. Digital cake to anyone who can answer this: Who is the author that wrote Alice in Wonderland and the sequel Through the Looking Glass, and who is the person that created two video games based off of Alice in Wonderland (PS, if you live in the USA, don't get confused by his name)**


	6. Roses are Red

**Here it is, the next chapter! I hope you guy's enjoy it! Read and Review! BTW, I said this would move on to different worlds, but if I focused on FMA and made different stories, would you guys go read them?**

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Oh… from what I'm viewing on the screen in front of me, everything appears to be going well… Fawful is distracting the officials onboard, along with the Fawfighters he created, doing what they were made to do, Alice is doing well in her fight, Plat (The robed person, I never actually saw under his robe) is already close to finishing half of the main objective, and our one last Member is waiting for his opportunity to accomplish the other half. Everything is going smoothly.

Still, despite the preparations that have been made, more has to be done, and we'll need more members…

I think it's about time I called him again. I press the buttons in the same manner as before, with the same low key beat, and the monitor appears again, but this time there's nothing on the screen, it's black.

"Hello?"

"I'm here, but do you mind if I stay in the darkness? The light hurts my eyes."

"If… it's that much of a bother, I guess. The Members are going to be interested in seeing your face though,"

"I'm well aware of that, and I have a good idea of what you called me about. Before we talk about that however, mind telling me how the mission is going?"

I relay everything that's happened so far, and he says, "Perfect, everything as I had intended! I had developed a few backup plans in case things went awry, but at this point I have a good feeling that everything should end well in this mission… but it's not this mission that you're wondering about, is it?"

"Yes… I was wondering… who are the two being sent to the next world?"

"First off, let's just say 'the other world,' the next world is a bit… unpleasant if misunderstood. Secondly, I gathered some info and shipped them to you using that… what was it now? Electronic mail?"

"Yes, it's short for e-mail."

"Right, well, I'll leave the more complicated technological things to you, you leave the planning to me. And thanks again for that technology you sent me, it was very helpful for gaining one of the two Members who are going on the next mission. Goodbye,"

"Bye," I press the backwards rhythm of the silent song, and check the e-mail's I have. I made some private sites and my own e-mailing system for sending information, hopefully no one will be able to access it.

I look to see what I was sent, and notice that there are three files named 'File 1,' 'File 2,' and a third file known as 'Surprise.' Great, just what I need.

I open the first file, and get a look at the first person. Nothing very special, a citizen of that world that we recruited who should blend right in.

The second one… what? No… he didn't… this person… he's way too dangerous to send on this mission! It can't happen, mainly because the person's dead! But I see the picture right in front of me… I don't believe it… if he's able to earn enough about my technology to do this, he must be more intelligent than I first thought.

I groan loudly when I read the third e-mail… great, the last thing I wanted to do. I save them to my computer and delete the files to ensure no one else will read them, and walk to where I need to get started.

Like I said, the sooner I start this, the sooner it's over.

* * *

I run up to , and our blades clash, her two knives holding my Vorpal Blade back, the two of us pushing against each other for dominance.

I had been hoping to avoid using my skills, considering people only encourage having an active imagination if it's contained in your head. Simply saying the wrong thing could make people think you're crazy, and if you say it enough, people are happy to send you on a nice vacation.

Unlike a normal vacation, however, those kinds have less sunlight or palm trees, but an abundance of padded rooms and… 'procedures' meant to help.

I am living proof of that, along with a few others. Most who leave places like Rutledge Asylum are dying or, even more likely, dead pieces of proof.

For a split second, I have a flashback of my time there, me being pushed into a wall by one of those dreadful orderlies with nothing better to do in their spare time but torment patients.

In that time, Ms Chang pushes me away, and tosses both knives my way. I swipe my blade to deflect one, and quickly bend my head to the left to dodge the other.

Blast those two fools, and their enabling Uncle, letting them bully me in his asylum. I can still remember their laughter in the real world, and in Wonderland as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. No matter where I am, those Neanderthals seem intent on harassing me.

As Ms Chang begins throwing more Kunai at me, I channel my rage at those two into my energy for dodging. I had gotten a serious scolding for when I stabbed one of them in the cheek with a spoon (not that I recall, I had been trapped in my mind) but that only made me wish that I had gotten them both.

First I swipe at one going at my shoulder. Then near my other shoulder. After which, Ms Chang tosses two at me at the same time again, this time, I let one pass by my left leg, cutting it, and manage to block the other with my blade. But only barely, the tip of her knife meets the thin, sharp part of my knife, and it bounces backwards. Ms Chang takes advantage of this, grabbing it out of the air and repeating the knives use for entry into my flesh, though it only nicks my right shoulder.

May keeps tossing knives at me, and then I realize that this is similar to rain. Rain drops are fast and ruthless, thrown at the earth by the clouds that own them. They are meant to hit anything in their path efficiently and without mercy, and that's just like Ms Chang is doing with her knives. Meaning that an umbrella would work to block them.

With that logic in mind, I let my blade dissipating and let my umbrella appear into my hands, popping it open just as I dodge another knife, aimed at my right leg.

Ms Chang seems surprised when a few of her knives bounce back from it but that's how it, and quite a few other weapons my mind made for me, work. In ways one can only imagine.

This umbrella of mine has saved me from more ranged attacks than I can count, giving my enemies an unpleasant taste of their own medicine.

Now that I think about it, this fighting is impressive We're at a bit of an impasse with me being able to block her knives, and for some reason she's not coming close to me.

Behind the umbrella, Ms Chang stops throwing her knives at me, realizing how futile an effort it is.

"What's wrong? Have you learned that knives are meant to be used for food and not for throwing?" She looks offended by this and retorts with,

"You're using a knife too! And if anything, yours is the inappropriate one, it's a kitchen knife!"

"Yes, but unlike you, I don't have the option. You could just walk away from me, from all of this, but I don't have a choice…"

Though she's right, the Vorpal Blade hardly looks like something intended for combat… more like an ornate kitchen knife… like the one I used to cut vegtables with my mother…

Unfortunately, my memories get in my way again, and Ms Chang tosses one of the blades I deflected into the wall at my left shoulder

Then I lose my patience with her,

"Enough!" I Let my umbrella dissipate, replacing it with the Vorpal Blade, and begin a vicious counterattack on Ms Chang.

I charge at her, and start hacking away, cutting a diagonal line on her stomach, a vertical line on her arm that went fairly deep, and another slice blemishing the fair skin on her shoulder.

However, she sidesteps my next swipe, and rolls back after mmy next attack, causing me to stab the floor.

While she's crouching, I quickly lift my arms up, replace my Vorpal Blade with the Hobby Horse, and bring it down to crush her.

Ms Chang jumps back, making me leave an unsightly hole in the floor,

"While I have a distaste towards trains, that doesn't man I'm fine with wrecking them, especially when they're hurt because you couldn't take the attack!" From hobby hosre to Vorpal blade in hand, and from Vorpal blade in hand to Vorpal blade in the air, to what will hopefully end with Vorpal Blade in Ms Chang.

It misses, inadverdintly piercing the back of one of the green ones in the car in front. Ms Chang jumped up and through the hole she made,

Hmph, it can't even hold down a young girl. Just as I heard about you gravity, you truly are the weakest of the four forces.

What should I do now? My associate may have done it, and Ms Chang, but I know better then to go on top of a train in a desert, with snad flying about, let alone take a fight to the top of a train. I've fought on the Infernal Train, but that wasn't on top of it… perhaps some tea might help me think.

"Now, now Alice, there'll be time for tea, tribulations, and terminology later," Cheshire appears in a fog of grey smoke, his body still thin, bony and mangled, the tattoos on him still clear, his grey fur still looking dead, his eyes still piercing, and his wide, toothy grin still looking too happy, even with the flecks of blood on them.

"If it's a lecture on thoughts you want to give me, I'm not interested. Find a philosopher to talk to, I'm told there are plenty here."

"I doubt they'd be worth reasoning with, anyone can take on a title. There's a fine line between intelligence and stupidity, just as there is madness and reality. You can see the trouble there, considering your experience with the latter." I remain silent. While he has helped me, I just don't feel completely comfortable with cats, despite owning one when I was a child. They're hardly the altruistic types.

"Not up for a chat? Pity, but from what I know, a certain guest of our is both up _and_ uninvited." I assume he means Ms Chang being on the train's top, but I can never be totally sure with him. "You can get her, but don't bother looking up there, you'll feel nothing but disappointment. You can't get a taste of victory, only do so if you enjoy the stench of failure"

"Do I truly look like I have the leisure for this? Can't you at least give me a veritable hint?"

"…It woudn't be nearly as enjoyable for me when I watch you solve a problem if I did that," The cat disappears in smoke and I think about what he said,

'You can get her, but don't bother looking up there, you'll feel nothing but disappointment. You can't get a taste of victory, only do so if you enjoy a whiff of the stench of failure,'

Hmm… don't bother looking up there… if that's the case how should I get her, I can't see through the ceiling, and blowing it up is dangerous, especially if I do it over and over again.

Hmmmmm…

In my concentration, I'm able to hear faint noises. I look around to hear where they're coming from, and then the meaning in the Cheshire Cat's riddle becomes clear.

"…don't bother looking…"

"…feel nothing…"

"…You can't get a taste…"

"…a whiff of the stench…"

Don't look, don't feel, don't taste, and don't smell. If there's a smell that a person isn't fond of, they'd usually bear with the teasing from having a clothes pin over their nose then endure it.

Four of the five senses. I can't use them as solutions, because they won't be since the problem will remain.

Meaning that I'm supposed to use the remaining one, hearing.

And from what I've hear, Ms Chang is trying to go towards where the passenger cars are.

At least that's what she imagines will happen.

While people never put much stock into imagination, things made into reality originally started out as thoughts in the inventors head before making it to paper and real life.

What isn't made real is deemed a ridiculous dream by most until it's right before their eyes, and her thought will remain dreams, because I'm not letting her get away.

I clasp my hands and grip my teapot cannon, and begin charging it up as I listen for more tapping from the train's top. Another reason I wanted to avoid going up there was because between the wind and the moving locomotive, it's nearly impossible to maintain one's balance, meaning that one would need something to help hold herself down and move forward, like knives. And even then, she'd have to stomp hard to stay on the roof, making quite a bit of noise.

Listen… focus… I think I have her!

I aim my tea pot at the spot where Ms Chang is and fire off a tea bomb, giving off a lovely scent of chamomile. Tea parties certainly are a blast.

It creates a great explosion, but it seems that I was off ever so slightly, because Ms Chang comes crashing through the window near the range of the explosion. She has several wounds from metal that's pierced her, but nothing life threatening.

Then, as she starts drawing a star circle on the ground, I notice something behind her, and realize that she had been hoping for all of this, (save for my explosion)

She needed to get on the train and crash through the window to get away from me so she could prepare for her attack.

And now I see the real reason she was tossing the knives at me, or rather, hoping to get them past me. To form the same pattern on the wall behind me that she used to enflame one of the green creatures that she attacked earlier.

Before I can act, her hands are pressed on the star symbol, and a crack of energy goes off on the wall, which launches three metal spears at me, piercing my shoulder, my stomach, and my heart.

I stumble back from the force and look at Ms Chang, who looks shocked by her own actions.

"Are you… surprised that I didn't dodge… or that you were actually capable… of killing me…?"

"I…" Ms Chang covers her real face with a mask to depict one who isn't scared, "I didn't have a choice… I'm sorry, but this is where you die."

"…Hehe…" Ms Chang looks very confused that I'm laughing, "Is it your conscience that's talking, or logic?" Then she looks shocked as I reach for the the spear in my left shoulder and begin yanking it out. The pain is intense and aggravating, but nothing I can't handle,

"Grr…! Am I… supposed to feel grateful… about being killed by a kind person… who regrets it… _Grrrrrrrr!_" with one last pull the first spear is out, and blood sprays out.

One would think that it would splatter on the floor, but when I was a child, I had a fondness for roses, which are normally in the company of thorns. Once when I was little, I plucked one, and started bleeding because of them. I started crying and my older sister Lizzie ran over to make me feel better. She hugged me and before putting a bandage over my wound, she 'punished the rose for hurting her favorite sister' by plucking all of it's petals.

Now, when I see blood, I think of roses, and the blood splattering out of me turns into rose petals before my and Ms chang's eyes as my wound closes up.

"Wha… what…" She somehow seems even more shocked by this, but I keep speaking, reaching for the one in my stomach.

"…Or…! …Should I feel honored…Grrr…! …to be considered dangerous enough… to be killed by… the likes of you! _Hrrrrrrr-_" As the second is out of my stomach, more of the red liquid flowing throughout my body is released. Sometimes I like to think that when I make someone bleed, I'm just releasing their trapped blood… it's a nice way of putting it…

I cough up a good amount of blood, all of which turns to petals now decorating the floor of the train. I ignore Ms Changs fear as I grab the last spear piercing my heart,

"S-stop! Please! N-n-no more!" She screams,

"Oh… There is more to come!" The spear starts to move, "Unlike you, I have been through Hell and back! And I have no intention…!" the spear is removed, "…of dying by anyone's hands! *Cough*" A large amount of blood is released from my mouth, along with a sea of it from my chest, all of it turning into rose petals. I'd appreciate their beauty, but this has gone on for far too long.

A stack of cards appears in my hands that appear normal with a twisted image of an "A" representing something rather obvious.

I have two options, I can either toss one at a time at Ms Chang, or I cantos the all at once. I pick my second choice, and a swarm of deadly cards go flying towards Ms Chang. Her hands are pressed on the symbol again and the cards are forced to cut into a makeshift shield, but I hear a squeal, and notice a few were able to cut through it. Odd… why didn't she make it thicker? Is there some sort of limit to her abilities…

I make a quick note of indentations on the walls and start walking towards her when I see more energy and an explosion of the metal. I see, she's trying to blind me.

Since she came back earlier, I know that she isn't going to run away and let me go, she probably thinks I'm too dangerous, which is insulting. I have plenty of self-control, possibly even more than her, the destructing is caused by her constant movement.

I look around to try and see her, but there's dust all around me. At this rate, she'll be the one who gets me.

Then, the solution to the Cheshire Cat's puzzle comes to mind, and I decide it may work as a solution for this.

I close my eyes and listen carefully. She's being quiet to sneak up on me, but she'll have to make noise when she attacks…

There!

I open my eyes to see Ms Chang gripping a knife with both hands, poised to stab me.

I side step her, letting her start to fall to the ground, and with my right hand, I casually stab her in the back with the Vorpal Blade as she falls.

She collapses to the ground, bleeding, and passed out, most likely from shock.

I let my blade disappear and watch as blood flows out of the wound on her back. It doesn't change like mine, or at least not like it. Eventually it gets dark and hard… well, enough of that, I had better give my associate assistance.

I walk to the other car, and watch as a strange black and white mouse of some sort runs past me… no, I can't get distracted. First it was a white rabbit that I followed, I had better not follow this odd mouse.

If I can help, than both parts of this mission should be finished even faster.

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**So, can you guys guess what's being done here? The mission, I mean. You probably won't guess right (just being honest) but I want to see what you guys think.**


	7. One Shot

**Here's the next chapter. If there's ever any trouble keeping track of who's who, let me know. Please Read and Review!**

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I slam my staff into the face of one of the Fawfighters, breaking its glasses, sending it stumbling back

Several of the Fawfighters from the cars in front of us have broken through the doors and keep on charging through, but it looks like we're meeting up with the last of them.

Most have exploded in a burst of stars that quickly faded out, and about four were left running through the doorway, charging past Zampano who was using his fists on a Fawfighter to compensate for his spikes-he had ran out.

I take a good look at all four of them, letting go of my staff and, as it clattered on the ground I quickly launched several kunai at the wall, oddly angled but still sticking, and clap my hands together, quickly playing through a complicated scenario that I quickly turn into reality as soon as my hands hit the floor that I hope will take care of these four at once. I don't have much time for anything else, so I'm going to have to improvise…

Please let alchemy and alkahestry be compatible!

As the small mob of four hurdles at me, two differently colored types of energy surged through the floor.

The first was concentrated in a circular shape around my hands, and I carved out a thick piece of metal that launched at an angle into the air.

At the same time, another type of energy sparks on the walls, more specifically, a few feet away near the floor, causing a thin pole to shoot out of that each spot. Normally I'd have to draw a circle with a star in it for the alkahestry, but thanks to past events I don't need them, similar tt how I can use alchemy without a circle.

As I picked up my staff and prepared to get back to fighting, I watch to see how well my plan works.

As I thought, these things are pretty mindless and they don't take the time to think of an alternative plan. This helps my own work out.

The Fawfighter in front of the other three runs straight into the metal as it looked as if it were to give in to gravity, and it's body flipped forward into the air, leaving the metal on its head unsupported, both of which quickly hit the ground, it's head getting smashed under the metals weight.

As that's happening, my plan to trip the rest of the Fawfighters and break their momentum works… at about sixty-six percent.

Instead of tripping them all, the pole instead stretches out too late and slams into the ankle of one of the Fawfighters running, actually causing him to do a sideways spin into the air, and another one runs into it, and the two roll out on the ground, slamming onto the one already on the ground.

The other thirty-three percent jumps over the pile made up of its allies, and keeps running towards me while the one percent was… so small that it can't be identified at the moment.

Thankfully, I'm prepared for this. I grab one of the ends of my staff and smack the green creature in the head with the other end as soon as it's in range. It stumbles forward, either from pain or, more likely from shock, and then I get a better grip on my staff and then smash it's face again, and the creature falls onto the ground, unconscious.

That's good, at least I won't have to kill it. Whatever these things are, they're obviously not natural, as the strange man flying outsid stated.

I use my alchemy to entangle the remaining Fawfighters, allowing Zampano to take a break and fall back breathing heavily.

"Zampano, are you alright?" Zampano reverts back to his human form and on his skin I see many bruises on his body- he got all of these for me, "Here, I'll heal you-"

Zampano just pushes me away, and I fall back, "There's no *Hah* time!" He shout, panting in between each word, "Just *Hah* help Hawkeye!" I'm about to deny his request when I feel the train shutter again from another explosion. "Just go Al, I've done my part in protecting you. If you want to help, than do me a favor and protect everyone on this train!"

I hesitate for a moment, but nod and run up to the side of the train to see the madman Fawful still flying about, dodging bullets and mocking the Gen- I mean Cap- I mean Riza.

"Your face seems naked without sunglasses covering it, because you are obviously blind to facts! The kind which are most definitely factual facts because they are made in my head!"

I stare up at Fawful and look at him. Listen to the way he speaks, and look at the Fawfighters. Then, I feel an emotion that I try to keep contained. And this is hardly ever a problem for me, because when it comes to how easily I'm angered, I'm my brother's polar opposite.

But when I think about the conditions these poor things had to go through to become what they are now… makes me feel a red hot anger unlike any I've ever felt in a long while.

* * *

I HAVE CHORTLES!

Fawful has a wellspring of chortles, granted to me by these fools who are stupid! The chortles Fawful gains are great enough to power every unpowered power device in the universe if it were to be converted into power!

Chortles is power and my powerfulness is all!

The ones with thick hair, hair that can't, shant, and isn't to be compared to my thin curl atop the area where my knowledge is kept, look up to me. Many parts make up a whole, and the most best part of all of this is that because it is them that looks up at Fawful, the reverse is also true!

Fawful hates to repeat himself if he doesn't have to, but he needs to, for these people simply won't stand under their facts that I give!

Has Fawful stated that he shall win? He has, recited several times, like he was practicing, but in real life with real fink-rats!

Will there be victory? Wrong. There will be victory, but not for all, for only Fawful shall receive it. They should have much graciousness losing to me, the meaning in that is my victory!

And the woman cannot hit me. Whether she take her fists, her guns, or even her allies, she shall only choke on the stale bread of defeat as Fafwul sallow the bread of winning!

Then, a great oddity appears and the owner of the name Alphone speaks to the woman with a hawk's eyeball, or something that is a similarity.

"Hey Fawful!" I send my focus away from the woman failing to fire at me and bring them towards the one who called my name.

"Hmm? Do you have a desire of some sort? Fawful has an idea of its nature and has a white lab coat you can whip around on a stick, ehehehehehe!" The person… perhaps being Alphonse, his name being of as much importance as hot salsa is to a lover of all things refreshing and unspicy. With ignorance towards my idea, he simply went on with a question for me, in desperate need of an answer, on I wanted to answer very too much.

"Did you really create these Fawfighters?" He glares with eyes thin, and a face that shows he would be the nightmare of any room for the wait.

"Your awe is forcing you to seek knowledge from me, and the shock is the force making you perform the act. My Fawfighters are made by me who is Fawful!"

"So tell me… were they made from live test subjects."

"Course that is of, your head has sweet ignorance stuffed into it, as does a piñata, waiting for a child, who is actually Fawful, to smack it open! Fawful requires live subjects, those that aren't are nearly ninety-eight percent less effective."

Fawful awaits a reply, but an infinite amount of silence is fired into my ears. Staring at the person in my way, Fawful should presses a button on that which isn't his helmet's front to send a message.

The ultimate puzzle of planning, with carefully crafted pieces to it, has been perfectly fitting as far as this. Perhaps whatever ends it will fit as well…

* * *

I stare at Al as he takes in what Fawful has just told him. To be honest, it's unexpected for him to get so angry, but not surprising. After all, Al has had to fac the cruelty of science once before.

When he first arrived in Central a few years back, Al and his brother Ed were trying to find a way to get their bodies back, and were guided to the Sewing Life Alchemist Shou Tucker who lived alone with his daughter, and had earned his certification as an Alchemist by creating a talking chimera.

However, both of them learned the harsh truth about him. Tucker was due to present a new type of chiera to keep his certification, and whether it was because of how happy he was to finally have it, or because he couldn't return to a life of poverty, he was willing to do anything. And what he did… crossed a boundary that no one should ever cross.

Shou Tucker used his alchemy to transmute his own daughter Nina and her dog into a talking chimera. Ed and Al confronted him about it, and realized that he had done the same to his wife, all to be a State Alchemist. He was promptly arrested, but before he could be tried, he had been murdered…

"Riza," Al says, taking a deep breath before bringing his hands together, "How much more ammo do you have?" I check the guns that haven't been loaded into my suitcase, and see that I have plenty left,

"More than I need. After firing at him so many times, I've gotten a good idea at how he moves, now I know how to stay aimed at him. That helmet seems to have a propulsion system using fire. If I can shoot into one of those, it should turn off and he'll lose control." I tell Alphonse, as another bomb is launched at the train.

"Alright. One shot. Then get ready, I'll force him into the air." Alphonse places his hands on the floor and alchemy courses through the train wall, and I see just what he's doing.

Alphonse is transmuting the wall into balls of steel which he is pushing out with additional metal from the train.

In other words, he's just turned the train into and artillery, firing bullets into the sky.

I look into the scope of my rifle, carefully aiming at the green man, carefully keeping my gun trained on him as he flies in multiple directions, mainly upwards, "Al, he's hot high enough."

"Are you sure!"

"Yes, can you bring him just a little higher?"

"I can, but hurry! The metal is going to run out soon!" Al claps his hands again and repeats the transmutation, and I look back into my scope, making sure to take into account all of the factors that could prevent me from getting a perfect shot.

The speed at which the train is going, the wind in the air, Fawful's movement, the train's shaking as it speeds away, all of these could cause me to miss. I'm not going to let them of course.

As Fawful rises higher into the sky, I stay aimed at him waiting to get a clear shot at the inside of one of the rockets on his helmet.

"Ehehehehe! Your efforts get no fruits!" Just keep talking, "I am the winner and it is you who is not!" Just until I can hit… "I have chortles at you!" That spot!

A gunshot rings out as I spot a small opening that I can shoot into Fawful's helmet, and it hits. With my scope, I watch the flames pouring out of the rockets sputter and die as Fawful begins to lose control.

"What!" Fawful's left rocket has gone out, and his right alone causes his to swerve to the right and start spinning clockwise. As he tries to regain control, he starts flying randomly, going in all sorts of directions, until he comes crashing through the window, smashing his helmet, causing it to turn off.

"Insolent fink-rats!" Fawful grumbles as he stands up, pointing at us, "You have just awakened a nasty bull with horns that will puncture you as needles would a balloon!"

Fawful walks to the left, then spins to point at us shouting, "I have rage!"

Then he does the same thing only going right and shouting, "I have ANGST!"

Then he walks to the center of the train, lifting his arms up to spread his cape, revealing a dark suit underneath, "I HAVE FURY! Your eyes have never feasted on power before they have seen Fawful! You shall know the pain, the horror, the tragedy that is-Aaaagh!" Al uses his alchemy to form a cage from the metal of the train, trapping Fawful like a bird,

"Al?" Al is very angry at Fawful. Being able to help people like Nina who were doomed to remain as chimera was the reason he came to Xing. It only makes sense that he would hate someone doing whatever was done.

Al walks up to Fawful and kneels down to ask him something when we hear a shrill cry we both recognize,

"KYAAAAAA!"

"**Sheska!**" After shouting her name, we both dash towards the next cart, but Al pauses to look at Zampano, worried about him.

Zampano gives Al a reassuring grin and a thumbs up, which is enough to get Al to run into the next room, and I follow.

Sheska is passed out on the floor in front of the door leading to the next train, and jerso is standing in front of it, not moving. Several Fawfighters are stuck to the walls, struggling to free themselves.

"Sheska, are you alright!" I run up to her and place two fingers on her neck to feel for her pulse. Her heart rate is normal, it looks like she just passed out from seeing something, but what could cause… dear God…

"Jerso, what happened? Are you injured?" Al asks,

"I'm… I'm alright but... I mean… May's…"

Al looks in the same direction I'm facing and sees what is in the other room. The puddle of fresh blood spread out on the floor, that apparently belongs to May… but… this isn't right…

"Where's May?" Al asks, with a horrible amount of fear in his voice.

If May bled out onto the floor, where is she now?

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**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, feel free to give me your thoughts :) BTW, did you have one of those moments like "OMG, he put the title into the chapter!" ?**

**Anyway, Read and Review!**


	8. Winner

**Well, here's the next chapter of Crossways! I hope you like this one, read and review!**

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The cargo crate groans as I push it across the floor, until it falls out of the train, following the rest of them that the two of us pushed out.

It seems this Plat fellow is somewhat useful after all.

The main point of this mission was just this. This was the main priority, shoving out every crate of cargo in the last car of the train past all of the cars holding people in them. Apparently, as long as this is done, our mission is just about complete. There's just one more thing that needs to be done.

"What are you doing?" I ask Plat, who is staring at the last crate of cargo,

"I was just wondering what exactly we were throwing out of this train. All of these crates have the same thing in them, so if we open this then…"

I 'Hmmmmmm' at Plat's proposal. Well, what does it matter if something goes wrong because we opened a box, and how can it anyway? Besides, I've heard curiosity kills the cat, 'm slightly interested to see I my only feline friend would apply to that,

"I suppose it couldn't hurt. I would also like to get an idea of why I'm here." Plat nods under his hood, lifts one arm up and quickly swipes at the crate once, ripping off the cover and sending it clattering across the ground.

'Why is he so nervous if he can do something like that?' I think,

The two of us peer inside of the box to view the weapons in the crate. Inside are all sorts of tools meant for destruction, some mines, explosives, and guns, mainly rifles,

"This is what we came here for? Ammunition?" Plat asks, mainly himself,

This does not bode well for me. I had hoped that this favor would be enough, but collecting all of these arms means that something else is going to happen. Something much more destructive then this current mission.

I pick up one of the rifles and examine it closely. It seems to be of pretty high craftsmenship. In fact, it's actually decorated, ornate even. This could be used as a prop for the décor of a house. Looking closely, it has an odd marking of a dragon on it… I suppose this makes sense considering the country it's coming from is so similar to the China I know.

Well, maybe not the one that I know, more like the one I've visited before on occasion. Dragons seemed to have great importance, even having a whole year dedicated to it. I can't even count the number of folklores involving this, it's got a surprising influence on culture despite the fact that it isn't real.

'…Odd, there's one part of the symbol that I don't recall ever seeing with a dragon-'

My thoughts are interrupted with a knife thrown my way… a knife that looks amazingly similar to ones belonging to one Ms Chang.

"Waaaaaah!" Plat screams, and I look up at him. "Y-you can this, right? I've got to go! See ya, Alice!" Plat runs off of the train and follows the rest of the cargo out into the desert.

"Yes, see you! Hopefully I'll be able to see you off into Hell you worthless coward!" I scream out of the train. To be honest, I don't completely mean that, some people don't realize what the flight means in fight or flight.

I was taught that fight or flight gives people the idea that they can either choose to stay for a fight or avoid it completely, but in truth it usually means putting off fights for another time. Some pertinent advice given to me by my friend Dr Heironymous Q Wilson. I vaguely remember being a patient of his during his treatments. His potions he gave me to help, and occasionally some of that unpleasant blood letting. He was one of the few in Rutledge that sincerely cared for me to an unprofessional level,. I've tried to send a few letters to him and remain in touch, and for a while it worked… no time to think about that, I need to deal with the problem at hand.

"It's good to see you again, Ms Chang, I'm surprised. Normally, when a person is killed, they don't come back to life." Looking at her, she really is looking rather sickly. Blood is still damp and dripping from her back, so my attack definitely hit her… then I take notice of a certain black and white mouse on her shoulder, glaring at me.

"I take it that the mouse on your shoulder is your pet."

"She is not my pet! She's my friend, and she helped me!" Ms Chang shouts, "And she's also a panda, not a mouse,"

"What did she do, convince you that it's a good idea to walk around with an open wound? Please, that animal can't possibly do anything to save you, you're going to die in your condition. In fact, you should be dead already." Ms Chang grins, and says,

"Do you know what alkahestry is?" I think abouty it… not something I've heard of before, but…

"It's the ability to manipulate things with that odd star you draw onto the ground. I bet that with your knives, you can use them anywhere that you can throw to," At least that's what I can Ms Chang pulls out another knife,

"They're called kunai," another _kunai_, I suppose I should say, and says, "And you're sort of right. Alkahestry does have its uses in combat, but it was originally made to be used for healing,"

"Hmph, that would explain you still being alive, but how could you heal yourself when you're-" I stop midsentence and look at the smalls, so-called panda on Ms Changs shoulder, and noticed a bit of red on it's paws…

"Impossible, you couldn't have actually trained that panda to use alkahestry! That's ridiculous!" Ms Chang stays on her guard, saying,

"No, because you can see me, living proof that Xiao Mei healed me, she just had to use my blood to make the mark and heal me," Speaking of blood, there appears to be a lot of it on her clothing. Healed or not, she doesn't have much blood left, so she should be that strong.

"Well, what do you plan to do now that we're both here?" Ms Chang grits her teeth together and says,

"What do I plan to do?" As soon as the panda jumps off of her shoulder, it begins. Ms Chang tosses her kunai at me, and I bend down to dodge it, but that was merely a distraction. As I rise back up, I notice her bringing her leg down on me from the air. I block her kick by crossing ym two arms, and push her leg off, sending her backwards. Ms Chang merely does a cartwheel to regain her balance, "I plan to defeat you Alice,"

* * *

I'm feeling dizzy, I feel sick, my body is weak and it's hard to move, but I can't stop. I can't afford to hold anything back against this mysterious woman named Alice.

I've never seen anyone with skills like hers. I hope to get an explanation for it, perhaps it's an unknown form of alchemy that doesn't need circle's, like Alphonse's.

Alice has the ability to summon a wide array of odd weapons to fight against me with. At first, she was weak, but somehow she's able to transform herself from a girl wwith pale skin in ragged clothes, to a healthier version of herself. Her strength increases making her even more dangerous. I don't know if she has any other abilities, but I think there may be a means for me to defeat her.

Frontal assault. The fastest frontal assault I've ever performed.

As soon as I recover from the kick that was blocked, I charge at Alice who has some sort of club resembling… something Amestrians called croquet, but with the design of a rabbit.

She tries to swing it at me, but I bend down as soon as I'm close enough to be hit by her and close enough to hit her. As I bend, I stop and spin into a low kick causing Alice to lose her balance. Then, when I do a full circle, I do an upward kick from my crouching position into Alice who's lost her hold on the ground, sending her flying across the car. She slams onto the floor once, rolls, and regains her balance.

I dash at her while she takes a moment to look at me. She materializes something into her hands, but I think that whatever it is can't stop me as long as I keep up my attack.

Unfortunately I'm wrong. Alice uses some sort of beam from a staff on the ground where I'm running to, hitting the floor. At first, I think it's just bad aim, but when I slip and tumble onto the ground, I take a split second look at the ground she shot at.

It's frozen! She can make ice with it! Is there anything she can't… no! I'm not giving up!

As I roll close enough to Alice, I go into a handstand right in front of her, taking my legs and fastening them around her neck. Then, I use them to flip her, hoping to smash her head onto the ground the staff clattering to the ground and dissappearing. Unfortunately, Alice catches herself, going into her own hand stand.

For a second, I look into her eyes, and I note my respect for her. In all my life, I have't seen eyes as determined as her since I met Ed and Alphonse. She is probably one of the most determined people I've met yet.

I kick my legs back and stand upright and listen as Alice does the same, and then, I turn back to launch the first of many fists. This was the point of my attack, to keep her from using her extensive arsenal.

We spend a few minutes exchanging blows, though both of us rarely hit the other, the attacks are mostly blocked or parried. This goes on for a while, and I can't tell what'll happen, but it becomes clear who the winner is after the next blow.

I launched on final punch at Alice who had the speed to avoid it and use my extended arm to flip me over her shoulder.

The winner is Alice.

She looks down at me, for a moment, and I wait for her to finish me off.

I wait for a whole minute, and she doesn't do anything. She just keeps looking down at me, and I wince when I hear a bullet go off. At first it seems that Alice might have actually had a gun to use, but when I open my eyes, I see that a bullet has gone straight through her stomach.

Then, she passes out, and I soon follow. As I slowly black out, the last thing I hear are Alphonse calling out my name.

* * *

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	9. Arrival

**Alright, here's what happens next in the story! I hope you all like it!**

* * *

"May!" Al screams as he charges at the girl in blue, who slowly rises right back up asfter I shot her. As he moves, he claps his hands together and transmutes a fist out of the steel of the train walls to be launched at her.

Then, an umbrella just… it just appeared out of nowhere! If that wasn't strange enough, it deflected the metal fist and bounced it into the opposite wall. However this gives Al the chance to punch her in the face. She tries hitting Al with some sort of heavy looking Hobby Horse, but Al is able to jump back and use his alchemy to transmute a wall behind the girl, preventing her from moving backwards.

As Al is fighting, I move to drag May into the next car, with Xiao Mei frantically chattering as he tries to get May to wake up.

I still can't see a clear purpose for doing all of this damage, but I know that it needs to end. I take my handgun out and prepare to shoot at the girl again. Unfortunately, it's difficult to aim with Al fighting… but hardly impossible.

Right now he has Alice backed against the wall he made and is fighting her in hand-to-hand, and seems to be winning, and the girl knows it. She elbows Al in the chest to knock him to the side, giving her a route of excape. She also gave my bullet a perfect route for my bullet to enter her leg. It's more challenging to hit a person's legs when they're concealed under loose clothing like a dress, but as long as you look at a personss feet and how they're legs are positioned while they're running, it's actually pretty obvious.

At the same time Al claps his hands and uses them on the wall, sending a spike out at the girl, piercing her in the back. She coughs up blood, but despite both wounds, she doesn't stop moving. The only difference is that now she seems to have seen me and is coming straight for me.

I notice how she isn't even bothered by the wounds she was given. In fact, those wounds seemed to have disappeared. There isn't even a mark on her clothing.

In the girl's hands, some sort of pepper shaker appears and as she starts grinding it, actual pepper is shot out. I take cover behind the wall, and I'm able to hear the pepper slamming against the wall in the other train. I'm glad that I'm never too careful with an enemy. As soon as the pelting stops, I hear a fight going on and know that Al has gotten back to fighting that girl.

I look out the doorway out to try shooting her again, but immediately go back in when I accidentally breathe something in that burns my nostril. Then, I start sneezing violently and I realize that this it that girls pepper. It seems that it has other functions besides being used for makeshift bullets.

I hold my breath this time and look back at the two of them fighting. Al's just knocked Alice back into the wall with a front kick, and suddenly, a knife, which she throws at Al, suddenly materialized in her hand. I fire at the hand she uses, which she grips in pain as Al catches the knife by grabbing it between his hands, only to have it disappear again.

Al tries charging at Al, but some sort of staff with an orb attached to it appears next and shoots a laser, which grazes Al's side even after he dodges it, and easily blasts through the trains wall, continuing to do so as Al runs to the right to avoid it. As soon as the laser stops, the girl looks sort of exhausted… it seems that using weapons takes energy out of her.

Al charges at Alice, who tries cutting off Al's head with her knife, but Alice dodges, and quickly rams into her, driving his elbow into her gut, and ounches her in the stomach as she staggers back, forcing her even farther away from him.

Al tosses five kunai at the wall opposite to Alice and transmutes a fist from the wall behind Alice, sending her towards the circle of kunai, which Al uses to transmute a second fist, sent straight into Alice's stomach. As she struggles to stand, Al uses one last attack against her.

Al's transmuted a collection of spikes from the floor, forcing Alice to run away from him and nearly pushes her out of the train. I take this chance to shoot her in the heart. Her body jolts and starts going limp. The girl turns to look at me, glaring at me with her vibrant eyes… but for some reason, they don't seem to be completely hateful.

As she falls out of the train, I'm able to catch her and quickly pull her in. Just as before, her wound heals, and I notice her blood turning into rose petals… what is this girl?

I turn back to Al, saying, "Al! It's over, she's out! Come and we'll interrogate her and Fawful!" I shout. Al starts returning the train floor to normal so he can get to this train, and I turn back to the girl only to see that she has suddenly changed. Her skin has turned pale, her clothes ragged, if I hadn't seen the pale girl from before, I'd think this was a whole other person.

"Lieutenant! Over here, you've got to check this out!" I hear Al shout. As soon as I can see the girl is completely unconscious and May is safe (with Xiao Mei to guard her) and stable, I hop into the last car that Al is in and walk over to him, and as soon as I'm close enough, he takes his attention away from the contents of some crate he was looking at,

"Al, I told you call me Riza," I say in a lighthearted tone, but I'm sure to change to a more serious one when I see the nervous expression on his face, and a bead of sweat going down it. "What's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Al reaches into the crate and takes out a rifle. "Lieutenant, take a close at this," Disregarding Al getting my title wrong, _again_ I examine the rifle closely. It's a very high quality model, and a very decorated one at that. If I couldn't look at it closer look at it, I'd assume it was just a prop. Al, I don't see what's so interesting about this…"

And then I see it, and I realize why Al is so shocked, "What… what is this… what the Hell is this!" I scream,

I'm asking what it is, but that's only to show how upset I am. Or perhaps enraged is a better word. This mark… this cursed symbol has brought Amestris nothing but pain and agony, and those those wearing it have nearly destroyed my country and killed everyone in it.

On these guns is the mark of the Homunculi, an Ouroboros carved into each,

The train attack… these mysterious people… guns with the Ouroboros on them… none of it adds up.

What could it all mean? And if we find this out… will it be the end of this whole issue.

* * *

Today was just supposed to be another average on-the-job day for me. Just another boring day of filling out every piec of paperwork for the reconstruction of Ishvala, rebuilding cities ravaged by the war, helping to mend relations with nations Amestris has been at war with, trying to keep close ties with Xing, those are just a few of the things I've had to dedicate myself to for the past six months.

However, instead of working in my office, like I'm supposed to, I learn that my trusted subordinate and friend, Riza, and Sheska, have been involved in a battle on a train with a girl and a bunch of green things. On top of that, I dangerous criminal is on the loose, according to General Major Armstrong

As I'm driven to the station by one of my privates, I look at the town that the train station is situated in.

A small city known as Currenthiess had decided to volunteer as one of the places for the transcontinental railroad stations. It was sort of an experiment considering Amestris' shaky history with the other nations it, so a lot of places had preferred this government project stay away from them. This city only accepted because the citizens have gotten desperate to get some revenue and pump some life into the town.

Currenthiess is located in a plot of land surrounded by rivers that travel to and fro all sorts of different places branching out like a spider web. The place was set up originally for the purpose of having workers come by and leave, but it was too out of the way of any villages so going to work and home took too long and was inconvenient, not to mention that most land near the rivers are uninhabitable swamps. People decided to set up here, and the city of Currenthiess was born.

Unfortunately, travel by river dropped sharply when trains were firs invented and gradually declined as more railways were built. This city was one of the last that still mainly relied on using rivers as a source of exchanging goods and travelling.

In the long run, this worked out well for the immigration system because whether you walked through the desert or used a train, people are going to need hydration, and plenty of water is needed to prevent a train's engine from overheating. Needless to say, there are many alternative ways to utilize a river.

I'm let out of my car, and walk to the train station with several armed guards at my side. A few of the people working, preparing to load luggage onto the train, give me some nervous looks. This Is a pretty small and out of the way town, it's no surprise that they aren't used to seeing anyone from the military. This is like Risembool all over again.

"Sir, here!" One soldier says as he shoves a piece of paper in my face,

"Hey, what the hell!" I shout, snatching the paper away, I look at the soldier, a dark skinned chubby man with a thin mustache who is sweating nervously,

"Well… u-um… I… I thought th-that I… You know, m-maybe I could have helped… I guess… I'm sorry," He says stiffly, saluting to me with his head held down,

"Oh… thanks, but I could have gotten it myself. And there's no need for you to apologize, I hate it when people are sorry for stupid reasons."

"Sure s-sir… I'm sorry…"

"What did I just say?"

"Y-y-you?"

"No! …well, yes, but that isn't what I meant!"

"Don't?"

"No."

"Have? D-did you mean h-have?" I tell him that I don't want to play this game, but I don't want to run the risk of learning that he's serious, so I just tell him,

"Listen, Private…"

"Kriegler, sir… I-I'm actually… getting p-promoted soon… for whatever reason…"

"Listen Private Kriegler, you wouldn't be assigned as my private guard if you weren't skilled enough to protect me. Besides you're getting promoted soon, doesn't that attest to what you can do?" … Though I seriously wonder how this nervous wreck qualified for the military.

Suddenly, a little kid starts running towards me, he's young but looks pretty serious about something "Hey mister!" He says as soon as he runs up to me, "Are you the Flame Alchemist?" I gasp, but I've trained myself to hide my emotions in dangerous situations, sometimes that training appears when I'm shocked in more simple ones. Then again, it couyld be more complicated than I realize

I first became famous for my title during the Ishvalan War… Or the Ishvallan Massacre as some soldiers call it.

Years ago, before anyone had learn the truth about the former Führer King Bradley, a massive war had broken out between Amestris and Ishval, a desert country that worshipped their God Ishvalla and saw alchemy as blasphemy towards their God. After a major incident, war had broken out, and for several years until State Alchemists had been called in by the Führer to exterminate every one of Ishvallans that we could find. Sometimes when I'm sleeping can hear the screams of men and women that I burned to death…

"Yes, that's me, Roy Mustang, can I help you?" I answer coolly. The kid keeps glaring at me,

"I see…" he says, and he starts staring at me. It's safe to assume that he's summing me up. I've ben portrayed as a heroic figure ever since the civil war that was started in which I rescued Mrs Bradley from Amestrian forces. Then again, I also had an infamous reputation for being involved in Ishval… I wonder which story this kids heard.

Suddenly, the boy reaches into his jacket, and Private kriegler screams, "He's got a gun!" And in a flash, has his own handgun pointed at the boy before I could even move.

The kid screams and stumbles backwards falling, "Gaaaaah! What the hell are you doing!"

"I should be asking you that! You were going toi attack the General, weren't you?" I notice something fall out of the boy's jacket, and then place my hand on Kriegler's shoulder,

"Easy Private, it wasn't a gun he had, look," I point to a lether wallet that the kid dropped onto the ground, "And unless he plans on killing me with a wallet, I think I'm safe."

"Oh… s-sure…" Krielger cautiously puts his gun away, and apologizes to the kid. I think I se why he's in the military. He's not so much nervous as he is on guard. Maybe a little paranoid to think that a child can harm me, but I've had the misfortune to run into a _very_ deadly child before. "B-but… why did he want to… show you his wallet…"

"I wanted to sell it, you idiot!" He says, kicking Kriegler in the shin,

"Ow!" As Kriegler grips his shin, hopping on one foot, I ask the kid,

"What? Why me?"

"W-well… you're a really famous hero and you do a lot of important stuff! I thought you'd have money so I could sell this wallet I made!"

"You made it?" The kid nods and says,

"Yeah, my folks own a farm that them and my two older sisters work to support us too. I'm too young to help out, but my Dad taught me how to make things with leather, so I try selling these around town to help. I can only make so much though…" I smile at the kid and reach into my pocket to get all the money I have,

"Sure, no problem. On a different note, how old are these sisters of yours?"

"Well… Airya is twenty-three, and Tia's nineteen. I'm Marc by the way! Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise! So, would there happen to be a place for tourists to rest? Also, is there a doctor anywhere nearby?"

"Oh yeah! See, Tia actually works as a doctor at our farm. She was mentored by the towns usual doctor, but he's away right now. There was another down downriver that needed, some sort of disease was going around. Airya can also show you to an inn nearby."

Jackpot.

"Great! I think I'll be coming over later, I have some friends who are going to need to visit your doctor, and I'll need to pop by to talk with your sis- I mean my friends!"

"Sure, no problem! Sooooooo… can you buy this wallet?" I jerk a little when Marc asks,

"Urk… Sure I can! I just don't know how much!"

"Well… how much can you afford!"

"Any price you name!"

"Twenty dollars!" Marc shouts happily,

It's just my luck that I'm short, by just… seventeen dollars…

"Private Kriegler!"

"Sir-woah!" He nearly falls over after trying to saluting on one foot, but regains his balance "Sir yes sir!"

"I know you apologized to this boy, but I think that a better apology is in order."

"A better apology? Like what?"

"Well, words can't get a person anything in real life, but money on the other hand…"

"Y-you… you want me to pay him as a way to say that I'm… s-s-sorry, sir?"

"Of course not, I want you to buy the wallet off of him!"

"I thought that you were-"

"Are you questioning the orders of your superior officer!"

"But… you just said y-you would-"

"Well that was before you pointed a gun at this poor boy Marc!"

"Sir, it was after that… can you… n-n-not afford that wallet?"

"What are you saying, stupid!" Kriegler gets kicked again by Marc who says,

"Agh! Stop kicking me!"

"Of course he can afford that! Roy Mustang is one of the best Alchemist's ever! And the strongest, and smartest, I'm sure he could buy out the whole town right now if he wanted to! He's gotta have the money, what if something came up? He needs to have all of it on him!" On the outside I'm happy about Marc's admiration for me. Inside, however, I'm crying because of how wrong he is… I need to start carrying more money on me…

"Well, you heard the boy Private Kriegler! Pay up!"

"I don't get… ugh, I've only got a hundred…" I snatch the money from the Private's hand, and give it to Marc, who hands me the wallet and runs off, shouting that he'll tell his family about me, which also includes his sisters.

"And now you have a wallet."

Kriegler stares at the wallet, and puts it away, before walking over with me to a bench, with several other armed guards I decide to have Kriegler ask around for directions around this place.. After an hour of waiting, the train finally stops by, and I see several familiar faces in pretty bad shape.

Sheska and Zampano are both passed out, and are carried by a battered Jerso. Riza looks kind of… shocked about something, and this has me worried. As long as I've known her, she's been an expert at staying calm, even better than me. What could have freaked her out so much?

The worst part is how scared Alphonse is, as he holds May passed out in his arms. I have Private Kriegler use the directions he has, along with my car, to drive him and a few guards to the doctor that I was told about.

I then have two who are left retrieve the two criminals who gave my soldiers hell, and destroyed this train.

I have a lot of questions, so I'll ask Al and everyone else before interrogating these two. No on attacks any of my subordinates and gets away with it. Ever.

* * *

**I hope you liked this chapter. Things should stay more interesting, but let me know if it get's boring. Please review!**


	10. Next

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! Read and Review!**

* * *

Two days. Twenty-four hours. One thousand four hundred forty minutes. Eighty-six thousand four hundred seconds. No matter how you say it, that's how long I've been waiting to hear about May's condition.

As soon as I arrived on this small farm, I ran straight inside and begged the doctor here, Tia Variety, to start helping her. I had healed her in the car, but she had some internal injuries on her organs, and some that were just too deep. My hands were tied, and it was up to her.

didn't have any other patients in her office, so she was able to help me, though she needed an assistant, and I had never learned anything beyond basic first aid… I can't even sew a wound up… Thankfully, the soldier that drove us here, Private Kriegler, was taught some advanced first aid meant to be used to temporarily treat fatal wounds of soldiers, until they could be brought to a doctor.

I couldn't do anything to help, so the doctor insisted that I wait outside for a while. Which I did, I waited. It was all that I could do not to break down because of how useless I was. I've learned all about alkahestry, but because I don't know anything about surgery, or a way to heal inside of a person's body, I can't heal her deepest injuries. It's just like with Nina…

For about four hours the surgery went on. As it turned out, May's injuries inside of her weren't very fatal, but they were still life threatening. If she hadn't gotten to the doctor when she did, she might not have survived that ordeal…

What on earth was all of that about anyway? Attacking a train, putting innocent people at risk, was it for those weapons? According to the conductor, all of the cargo on the train came from the same shipper, meaning that it was all the same. Weapons, dangerous tools. Not just guns, combat knives, mines, explosives, perhaps there was even more in the other crates wherever they went. Because of that, May's been injured…

May has been passed out in the doctor's office ever since her surgery ended, and I've been waiting ever since. At the moment, it's the afternoon, and Tia has… just come back from lunch with her family. She's been really nice in letting me stay, I doubt a regular hospital would allow that. Though, she has been asking me to get some rest and eat… but I just haven't felt tired or sleepy. I've been too worried.

She adjusts her glasses and says, "Mornin' Al! How's it goin'? Still waitin' for ol' sleeping beauty to wake up?" The brunette says, as she puts on a lab coat over her impressive figure, and her long hair into a messy bu with a pink scrunchy

"Yeah… still waiting. I know I should do what you've told me, but I need to stay…" Her cheery attitude must rub off on others, because I feel a little bit better when talking to her, with her unique accent,

But then she gets upset and says, "Hell yeah you should do what tell ya'! Look at you, a healthy young man in his peak, wasting away like that! It ain't good for you to stay awake for so long." She says, crossing her arms,

I look at the ground to avoid her gaze and mumble, "…Sorry…" Then she throws something at my head and goes to her desk,

"Forget it, kid, but if you're goin' to ignore what I say 'bout sleepin', at least take a bite o' that." I look at what was thrown at me, it's a small bushel of carrots, rinsed, peeled, and wrapped together by some twine.

"Thanks," I say,

"Just eat. Honestly, you youngen's are so carefree ya' don' even worry 'bout yer' bodies one dang bit. I swear, kid's these days." She says, putting her legs up onto her desk as she starts filling out some paperwork on her clipboard.

"Um… aren't you more carefree considering you're… in that relaxed position?"

Tia's eyes go wide, and after quickly standing up, she glares at me saying, "Don't you back-sass yer' elders boy! Show'em the respect they deserve!"

"But… I'm eighteen, you're just a year older than me-OUCH!" A clipboard is tossed at my head by Tia, and she stomps off,

"I'm goin' to see how May's doin' now…" she growls,

I suppose she doesn't like being called young. As I rub my face from the pain, I hear the door open to see Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Riza walking in. Both of them are a bit surprised to see me, but I can understand why. I must look like the living dead at this point.

"So, you're still here Al?" I nod and say,

"Yeah, I'm still here," I say grinning, "How are the others?"

"Well, Jerso pretty beaten up, he's getting some rest at the inn. Luckily, Zampano and Sheska are fine and walking around like nothing happened." Colonel Mustang gives me a downcast glance and says, "I'm sorry that this happened Al. If I had been there, those two in the train would have been incinerated," Colonel Mustang says, tightening his fists,

"It's okay Colonel. What's important is that everyone got out alright." I say comfortingly, then I try changing the conversation to try and help him forget about it, "So, have you been having fun here with that girl," Then he puts on a big grin and says,

"Oh, Airya, it's been great! Yeah, great! Ahahahaha!" Then, he leans against the wall, saying, "Apparently she only dates guys who live in her town, so, I've been helping her out with all of the farm work to try to change her mind…!" Then tears run down his eyes, "You know, little things, like gathering forty acres of corn for about eight hours, and spending early morning helping her replace a wall of her home that had started to rot out all morning at the crack of dawn, hehe… and you know what she said?" He turns to me, smiling ruefully, "She says that I am a very good 'friend'…" then he slides down the wall mumbling inoherently, and both me and Lieutenant Riza sweat drop… same old Colonel, even if he was promoted.

"So, Al," Lieutenant Riza says, "How are you holding up?" She says worriedly,

"Oh, I'm doing fine," I say, trying to ease her worries,

"Alright if you say so Listen, I wanted to update you on the prisoners," As soon as I hear –four hour surveillance by the soldiers Colonel Mustang brought along that, I perk up. That girl in the dirty clothes and Fawful have been held in a local jail, kept under twenty-four hour surveillance by the soldiers Colonel Mustang brought along, including Private Kriegler.

"We've been interrogating them for information as to why they attacked the train, but either of them have given any useful information, and I don't just mean that they were silent. The two of them don't seem to know their own motive for it."

"What?"

"Alice, the girl, has mentioned how there were weapons on the trains, but that's already known from that crate inside of the train. Fawful knew even less when we ask about why he went after the train."

"So, we've hit a dead end…" I say, disheartened,

"Not exactly Al," she says grinning.

"What do you mean?"

"There's something I needed to talk with you about," she says seriously, "It's the weapons that were found in that crate on the train. They-"

"AL!" I hear Tia's accented voice shout, as she runs into the room franticly, "Al! Get in here! She! Her! May is…!"

"What's wrong?" I say panicked,

"May's woken up!" I feel my body loosen up, and my eyes go wide as tears fill them. Then, I run to May's room, nearly knocking over Tia and run into May's room, to see May rubbing her eyes as she wakes up, observing her surroundings, surprised by the fact that she's in a white hospital gown,

"Alphonse? What happened? Where am-" I don't let her finish her sentence, I just run up to her to hug her,

"May… May..." I say, my body shaking as tears flow out of my eyes, "I… I'm so glad you're… alright…"

Seeing May awake causes nearly all of the stress that's been keeping me up to dissipate, and before I realize it, I'm passed out.

"May... I'm so glad… you're... alive…"

* * *

I run into the room, surprised to see Al hugging May and practically lying on top of her,

"A-a-a-a-a-alphonse? Al…phonse? What… do you mean?" May stutters, blushing very hard,

I walk over to Al's side to get him off of her, "Come on Al, let May get her rest," I say, shaking his shoulders and pulling him off, but this causes him to fall onto the floor, "So, you can finally rest, huh?" I say as I carry him onto a bed adjacent to May's.

"Finally?"

"He was waiting for you to wake up for the past few days," Roy says, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, "He's been so worried about you, that he hasn't even left this small clinic. He hasn't even been able to eat or even sleep, which shows how much he worried about you,"

May looks down at Al, amazed, and clearly flattered, while I recall Roy about five minutes ago. How does someone go from so incredibly stupid to… whatever he is now?

The two of us give May a brief summary of the situation, letting her know that Xiao Mei is waiting at an inn with everyone else and is doing fine, and then she goes on to say why she was on the train,

"I snuck on," She says, guiltily,

There is an awkward pause before Roy says, "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, I told Alphonse that I had a special surprise waiting for him in his luggage… the truth is, he had some room in his suitcase, and I was going to surprise him by jumping out. I was planning on heading back with him to Amestris."

"But… what were you doing outside of the luggage?" Roy asks,

"Maybe she was just hiding in the cargo hold. She didn't have to spend the entire trip there."

"That's actually spot on. See, what happened was, I was waiting in the cargo hold, but then the train starting shaking," From Fawful's attack, "And then, I manage to get through the doors, which coincidentally only open with a special key that I found on the floor. One of the staff members bumped his head and passed out, so I didn't think he'd need it,"

"And let me guess, that's when you met Alice and the Fawfighters?" Roy says,

"That's what they're called?" she says, amazingly unimpressed, "Anyway, yeah, and I was defeated by Alice the first time after those… Fawfighters were beaten and that guy Plat disappeared," Roy looks at me for an answer, but I don't have one,

"Plat?" I say,

"Yeah, he was a robed person with Alice, working with her and Fawful. He escaped on the top of the train to the cargo hold while Alice… went through the cars… thank goodness no one else was hurt by her…" she says,

"May, there was a lot of cargo missing, all of it consisted of weaponry, shipped inside of crates, like the one that was left behind. Did you get a look at what happened with them, and this Plat person?"

"Hmmmmmmm…" May says, putting her finger onto her chin, "Oh yeah! I saw them dump one crate into the desert, and Plat jumped out into it too!" May shouts,

Roy looks surprised by this, and starts thinking of the reasons for this, as do I. The desert between Xing and Amestris is deadly. Going through it on foot is considered suicide nowadays with the new train system installed, and no person would ever go into it without a good reason… and pushing all of those crates out… that could only mean,

**"He was getting picked up!"** Roy and I say at the same time,

Both of us have come to the same conclusion, and we both know what this means. It's been two days, and if he's been picked up, then they're probably going to want their allies back.

* * *

"So… you ran with your tail between your legs?" He says, glaring daggers at Plat, who's doing everything he can to avoid his angry gaze.

Plat is the only one who had managed to escape from Amestris, and he even brought over nearly all of the weapons we needed to steal. He actually completed his mission, but both Alice and Fawful had been captured. If they give up any information about us, things could get slightly difficult. It's already been two days… I doubt they'll be able to keep quiet about what little useful information we've given them much longer, provided they haven't talked already.

"W-well… technically no… I don't actually have a tail…" If that's not a desperate excuse, than I don't know what is,

He continues to stare at Plat for a moment, and I can feel the tension in the air, despite the fact that he's talking to us from a screen.

Both of us wait, nervous for what he may respond with… why am I so scared? He's so far away, I don't even know where he is, there's no way he could harm us… right?

Both I and Plat jump into the air, the second he opens his mouth and howls… laughter?

"Ahahahaha! You really thought I was going to punish you or something- ahahahaha!" I wait for a moment for the laughter to die down and ask,

"You're not upset?" I ask, bewildered, not that you could tell by looking at me,

"Oh, I would be if that didn't fit into my plans, but luckily for Plat here, it works out perfectly."

"I'm confused…" Plat says,

I've got to admit, I feel the exact same way he does, and that's rare for me.

"It's simple. There's something else that needs to be stolen, something I assigned Fawful to. Unfortunately, he failed to accomplish what I needed him to do, however, that doesn't mean we can't turn this around." He is interrupted when the doors leading to this room slides open, and three individual's walk inside of the room. Two of them are amazed at the massive facility that I made, however, one is completely calm.

The first person is a wiry but very handsome man, who looks very thin, with dark skin, and white blonde hair. The way he carries himself is very disciplined, each footstep completely perfect, just as the last was, completely parallel to his carefree looking around. This must be that Amestrian criminal Greeverce Ratery.

The second is a pale skinned man who has dark grey hair put into a pony tail that spikes out. He's very cautious about the new area that he has just entered. From the designs on his clothes, it's easy to tell his profession. He's an Alchemist, more specifically, an Ex-State Alchemist, one known as Karlin Raverce.

The third is in a dark robe, similar to Plat's. I can barely count the number of differences between him and Plat, one big difference being their sizes. Plat is a midget compared to the 8'5" giant Yondelo. He's been with us for a while, and from his appearance, and the looks of the other two new recruits, their mission went well.

All three of them have a good amount of blood on them.

"Ah, gentlemen, good to see you. I take it the mission went well,"

"It went better then well! It was all so much fun!" Greeverce screamed, throwing his hands into the air,

"Now that," he says, "is the kind of enthusiasm that is going to get all of this to work out perfectly! Why can't the rest of you be more like Greeverce!"

"All of us probably have a stronger hold on that silly little thing called sanity," I mumble,

"What was that?" He says

"Nothing! Nothing! So, what next?"

"Hmmm… well, for those who have just arrived, Fawful and Alice, these two," Their pictures show up on His screen for a brief moment, "Have gotten captured, and we need to rescue them. I'm going to need two volunteers, now who here wants to get some serious brownie points from your leader?" How is he so carefree about all of this?

Plat is hesitant to go on a mission back to Amestris. For some reason, this guy is terrified of that place, I'm going to need to find out why someday,

"Right here!" Greeverce shoots his hand into the air like a rocket, and Karlin slowly raises up his hand. He's a lot more professional about this.

I look at Yondelo, puzzled as to why he wouldn't volunteer. The guy has always been the first to volunteer for things ever since he arrived here three months ago.

"I would, but Fullmetal messed me up pretty good," he states simply and walks off,

"Well, now that that's settled, let me brief you. The three of you are to rescue Alice and Fawful, and then you're all going to find a way to retrieve what Fawful was _supposed_ to get, but didn't. Just ask his about it later, that is all,"

"I can't wait… this'll be so much fun!"

"Wait, sir!" Karlin says, "My arithmetic may be a bit lacking, but only two people have volunteered for this, yet you said a total of three were going. Is there someone that you're not telling us about?"

"Oh… oh right, where are my manners, I recruited a few new Members, and one of them… well, you'll be going with… it." He points towards the two of them, and when I look, I see someone that wasn't there a minute ago.

Both men respond to the mysterious person in different ways. Karlin moves away as fast as possible, and Greeverce used a knife that he slips out of his sleeve to slash its throat,

Greeverce guffaws at his kill, watching the blood spurt out, waiting expectantly for the body to fall… but it doesn't. Instead, it starts laughing. At first it's slow and monotonous, but gradually, the pitch increases. It gets faster and faster, and more out of place with the gash on its throat that is healing. He joins in two, and all four in the room are freaked out, even me, who knows exactly what's going on. Eventually the laughter goes down, and it looks at Greeverce, pissed,

From what I can tell, it probably only did that to intimidate him, that must have hurt a lot.

"Now, now, no need for that, you're going to be working with these two. Just bear with it, and I'll even let you cut loose at last… Envy."

Envy is still angry, but despite that, it smiles widely and chuckles, excited over the blood that's going to be spilt.

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**Well, were you expecting anything I wrote? Read and Review!**


	11. Guns

**Ahhhhh, I love the smell of updates in the morning. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Things are going to get more actiony soon! ... or have more action in them... whatever, just read and review please!**

* * *

"Haaaaaaaaah, looks like it's just you and me, aye Kriegler?" My old friend from the military academy says, exhausted,

"D-don't look at it like th-that! You could g-get us into trouble!," I say, eyes as wide as they can get with my lack of sleep,

General Mustang has been having men guard the prisoners here all the time, and hardly anyone was interested in pulling all-nighters to keep them under control. I've been volunteering to watch over the two criminals Alice and Fawful as a way to show my dedication, but it's taking its toll on me. Jeb just lost a card game the other soldiers had, so at the moment, only four of the eight soldiers are here, two in the jail, and two patrolling the area.

Jeb may see this as an annoyance, but I'm really hoping that I can make a name for myself. I entered the military so that I would be able to do something that would make my parents proud. My mother is, but I'll never know for sure if my father feels that way. Sadly, he died several years ago.

Amestris has been on bad terms with most countries, and was at war with Aerugo for years. My father was one of the soldiers who served in the war at the time and is well known.

In a vital mission to take a plot of land from the enemy that they were clinging onto for dear life, several military grade machine guns had to be built to take down enemy soldiers. These would be used more often if they weren't so inconvenient. There were a lot of parts that needed to be delivered to wherever you needed the guns to be, and each took an hour to build. It needed a unit of soldiers to guard it and the engineers building it, and my Dad was part of the unit.

The enemy had a dangerous advantage being so familiar with the terrain, but my Dad managed to use his intelligence to out maneuver the enemy. Using guerilla tactics, and invading their own trenches, he managed to have soldiers under him silently cut down fighters without the majority of the enemy realizing it. The soldiers were supposed to retreat, but two of his men had been captured.

My father was the most caring person you would ever know. He saw a minute chance of saving the lives of those who may lose them, and took it. Thanks to that, two soldiers were able to return home to tell my about what he did.

Our side won with minimal casualties, and I was inspired to join the army. I wanted to do something to make my Dad proud, but… for now I'm working my way up. I've managed to catch the eyes of my superiors because I've got above average skill with a gun, but that's all that I can note that's important.

"Hey, Kriegler," Jeb whispers, "You think these guys are just acting stupid, or are they really as clueless as they say," I think for a moment, and recall the terrifying interrogations General Mustang did… with fire. I can still see the massive burn marks in the cells,

"I-if they are, th-then they may be the bravest, or s-st-stupidest people I've ever seen. I remember G-general Mustang's interrogations, he was going to b-b-b-boil their b-blood if he didn't get any information out of th-them," I say shivering,

"Heehehehehehe!" The little green guy laughs creepily for the eigth time in the last ten minutes.

"Wh-what's so funny?" I ask, trying to be intimidating… emphasis on trying,

"Oh, there is not a thing that makes for fun. What is amusing is complete nothingness, hehehehehe!"

"It doesn't sound like nothing…" Jeb says, nervous,

"C-c-c-come on! He-he's p-p-probably just t-trying to s-s-s-scare us!" And it's working! "L-look! You," I point at him, "and A-a-a-alice," Then I point to her sleeping figure, "A-a-are never c-coming o-o-out of here… UNLESS!"

…

"Yeah, Kriegler?" Jeb says,

To be honest that's all I've got… unless… unless… "UNLESS YOU TELL US WHY YOU'RE HERE!" I shout, panicked, waking up Alice, who is glaring at me,

Fawful still has that same big grin on his face, and Jeb looks kind of shocked by my outburst,

"Eyehawk." Fawful says,

"W-wh-what?"

"Call for the woman with eyes like a hawk. I have words to give her,"

"Erm… okay…" Did… Did I just convince this guy to give information? "I-I'll just go into the o-other room t-t-to make a call. C-captain Hawkeye sh-should still be in the hospital, r-right?"

* * *

*Haaaaah* "I got a real weird in mah' office, May," I tell 'er, as I examine 'er wounds,

"Hey, that's not nice! They're all good people, especially Alphonse,"

"Well, from mah' experience, weird classifies as a woman that can shoot a fly 'bout miles 'way, a Flame Alchemist gettin' all depressed and stuff on mah' floor, and the most disrespectful, but respectful kid I've ever met."

May twists her head around to try and face me as I examine the wounds on her back,

"Most disrespectful, but still respectful…? Do you mean Alphonse?"

"Yeah! Get this! He had the nerve to treat me like another one o' his lil' old pals when I'm way older than 'im! Yet, in all other respects, he may be one o' the most well mannered guy's I've ever met!"

"Well, Al is a really kind person," May said smiling warmly, "And if that's the worst thing about his, then I think you'll like him in no time!" I give May a big clown grin, and say,

"What're you talkin' 'bout May! I like 'im already!" I tell her cheerily,

After I do… something seems off. May keeps looking at me happily, with her eyes closed, and doesn't say anything. I go back to examining her, and after a five minute pause, she says, "Great!" and I jump a bit,

"Huh! What's great?"

"It's great that you… you l… li… like Alphonse…" May says, trying a little too hard to smile… it's kind of unnerving,

"May… is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Why ever would there be anything wrong?" That's just a little too innocent to be believed.

"Well… you seem slightly… upset…"

"Upset? I'm not upset! I'm delighted that Alphonse has such a pretty girl that likes him as a friend!" May smiles, but I swear that girl is gritting her teeth,

I turn around and try coming up with an excuse to leave,

"Riiiiiiight… well, I'm pretty much done fer' now. I think I should get goin' and see how Al is doin'." Suddenly I feel a chill on my back, and spin around, panicked to simply see May putting her hospital own back on and smiling at me,

"Is something wrong?"

I back up against the wall, "Um… well I-" Suddenly the phone rings,

"Oh! Hey! Look, the phone! I' better get that!" I run out of the room, pretending to be scared of missing the call,

I'm just scared of May,

" 'Lo, Doc's Office, Tia speakin'."

"H-h-hello?"

"Oh, hey! You're that soldier, Kriegler, right? What can I' do ya' for?"

"W-well… can you get C-c-captain H-hawkeye? F-f-f-fawful says he wants to t-talk to her."

"Really? I didn't think greeny would want to chat. Well, her n' that Gener guy wanted to chat with May 'bout somethin' pret-ty bad, they waited until nightfall fer' me to finish checking over her wounds. I'll send'em right away!"

"B-by the w-w-way, thatnks f-for the help… with her."

"Aw shucks pal, don' be so modest, you helped to. Without ya'll here, things could've gotten pretty messy, so I should be thankin' you. So, thanks Kriegler."

"Oh… y-your very welcome,"

"Welp, I'll send Hawkeye over right away! Later!" I hang up the phone and walk to the waiting, walking fast as I go by May's room. Al mentioned how good she was at martial arts long with how well she's trained. Even though she's injured, I'm pretty sure she can still kick ma' ass.

I walk in to see The general and the Captain waiting patiently fer' me, Mustang holding something wrapped in a cloth,

"Well, is May up to talking with us?" Mustang asks,

"Sure is! Her and someone else," I tell both of them about how greeny wanted to chat with the Cap'.

"Why on earth would Fawful want to talk with me. I'm the one who's responsible for him getting captured." Says the Cap'

"If you think it's suspicious, just don't go," Mustang replies,

"I wish I could, but this might be a chance to hear if Fawful is hiding anything that he hasn't already told us about. Do you think you'll be alright with May?"

"No worries, I'm dealing with the normal one," Heh, yeah right Mustang!

She's a karate chopping, Xingese, overly jealous girl, she's as typical as a pig that hates getting' muddy,

* * *

As Riza and I part way, I look back at her over my shoulder, fearing for her safety.

After the Ishvallan War, when I promised that Amestris would change and I would be the one to make the change, she was my most loyal supporter, and closest friend. Possibly seconded by the late Maes Hughes.

In the battlefield, I would gladly entrust my life to her without a second thought, but… for some reason,, I have a bad feeling about sending her over there,

"C'mon Mustang!" Tia slaps me on the back, "It's night already, you can tell by the full moon. Ma' patient needs 'er beauty rest even more than you do," Tia says jokingly,

I chuckle and nod politely, hiding my anxiety as best as I can. I walk in to see May looking exhausted, and resting in her bed under the covers. I try asking Tia how her condition is, but she's disappeared.

Odd, where did she go…?

"Do you need something General Mustang?" May asks tiredly,

I nod and say, "Yes, it's just something small, but it is very important," I lift up what I'm holding and unwrap the cloth from it. It's one of the rifles in the crate on the train, the fancy ones with the Ouroboros marks on them,

"May, take a close look at this rifle. It's looks rather impressive, but the way it's built is rather crude compared to Amestris', meaning that guns haven't been constructed for too long wherever this was made. I have a pretty good idea of it, but I just wan to be sure that I'm right," May stares at the gun for a moment,

First she notices it seems familiar, but then her eyes widen in shock,

"No way… what is this doing here? So many of those guns… and with that accursed mark!" May lifts herself up quickly, but wavers a bit due to fatigue and blood loss,

I grab her shoulder to keep her up, and ask,

"May, it is right to assume that the designs on these guns…"

May nods an says, "Yes, General Mustang. The designs on he gun, sans… a certain mark on them are similar to those in Xing," As I thought, these weapons were all made in Xing, and shipped here for someone… most likely someone who has knowledge about the homunculi. I wonder… could there be another nationwide philosophers stone being attempted?

"Thank you May, that's the first step in finding out why weapons were being loaded onto what is supposed to be a simple cargo train. Now we have to figure ot where they came from,"

"Where? What do you mean? You don't know?"

"Don't know what?" I ask confused,

"The designs and ways guns are built were only introduced to Xing very recently, and my country has hardly any experience making the guns. However, there is one place with advanced enough technology where producing large amounts would be possible. The only plae where guns would be allowed, because all of the people there need their guards to have every advantage in controlling their people,"

A place where only the guards get weapons to protect people… "Do you mean… like an important family?"

May smiles sadly, "That's one way it could be put, though a better one would be where my family currently resides after Ling's rise to power," I feel a surge of shock run through my body. Ling… when he became the emperor and gave the Chang clan respect and protection he…! "That's right, these guns were manufactured in Xing's main capital, the city-temple Wángshì,"

…I don't believe this. These guns were made by royalty in Xing's royal city. That means that whoever made them most likely has some very powerful sway in the country. I guess I should say something quite overdo,

"May, thank you, you've been very helpful,"

My looks down and says, "No… I haven't been helpful at all. I was nearly killed by Alice and made all of you worry about me. I should be apologizing to you."

"Nonsense. May, on that train, you said they were shoving the crates out of the train, and that Plat left, right? Well, odds are, Alice was going to leave the train as well with the crate full of weapons, but you managed to stop her. If you hadn't have done that, then Alice would have gotten away." Hearing this alleviates Mays guilt, and I decide that I need to ask another favor of her,

"May, would you be willing to come with me back to Central?"

"Why?"

"Well, I can fill you in on the details later on, but I just need some other people to hear what you've said. I'll explain later on, okay May?"

"Okay! I'll go! But…" May starts acting shy and starts playing with her fingers, "What's Alphonse going o be doing… just out of curiosity!" I chuckle and say,

"Al's going to head there with us. He was actually planning to meet up with Ed, that's what he originally planned to do, though he may want to change them after all this…"

"Okay, then I'd be happy to go with you!" May says smiling,

Good, I have her along with me, and then those guns… Right now, I need to take a thorough look at what Riza and Sheska brought back from Xing in that black suitcase, then-

*BANG* A small bang stops my train of thought, and I listen as several more go off, *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

"Mustang!" Tia screams as she runs in, "I heard gunshots comin' from the jailhouse where those two pris'ners were bein' held!" Oh no, that's where Riza is!

"May, stay here, I need to go!" I say, as I put my gloves on,

"But I-"

"Look, any other day, I'd be glad to have you along, but right now you're too injured to help." That doesn't keep her from trying. Tia is able to keep her down, as I run out the door,

"Colonol Mustang!" I hear Al shout from behind me. It seems that he's woken up, but he still won't address me by my proper title. Old habits die hard, I suppose, "I'm coming too!" Al shouts.

I don't have time to say otherwise, I simply keep running, to where I hear the gunshots coming from, and see a pair of mysterious figures standing outside of the jail, which has had its door broken in. As I snap my fingers and cause an explosion of flames to go off by them, one of them launches something makes an explosion just as large, thankfully my first strike threw his aim off, missing me an Al…

Wait a minute, the brightness of what was shot… I know this! This is a type of alchemy!

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**I hope things weren't confusing or anything, and that you enjoyed it :)**


	12. Light

**Here's to another new chapter!**

* * *

I step into the jailhouse, no longer bathed in the full moon's light, and salute Private's Kriegler and Jeb before taking the rifle I brought with me off of my back, and prepare to shoot it, in case I need to.

We were able to get this place to ourselves on official military business. Thankfully, the young man Marc, and his family, decided to put in a good word for us and convinced the mayor of Currentiess to comply. People here aren't very fond of anyone working for or with the government due to a lack of financial support.

We've put every precaution we could on keeping these two from doing anything, I've even confiscated Fawful's helmet and left it in the inn that I've been staying at with the others.

I cock the rifle and aim it at Fawful, and ask, "So, what did you want to see me about?" He pauses, looking at me, and for the first time since I've seen him, his smile turns to a toothy frown, and he says,

"Eyehawk, getting to Xing, there was a lack of rest, and you did all things you could censoring out relaxation," I stay calm, and realize what he's talking about,

Officially, me and Sheska have been vacationing in Xing, and not on official Amestrian business. The question is, how does he know,

"Care to tell me what you're talking about," I say, feigning ignorance,

That ridiculously annoying smile comes back as he laughs "Ehehehehehehe! While what you're saying is a false, only truth is required, Eyehawk! Act ignorant to content your heart, and any other organs, but you know what I mean, even if your actions aren't part of an act," The three of us look at the small green man confused, as does Alice, though she's spacing out for the most part,

After a long pause, Private Kriegler asks, "C-captain, is this s-s-some sort of c-code we need to break, or is th-that actually how he t-t-talks."

"Hm… what he's saying is that… I'm lying… and that I'm not playing dumb, but I'm actually dumb…" I hope Roy didn't lose too much patience with Fawful, Constantly burning his cell wouldn't exactly speed up an interrogation.

"…You're… right…" Alice says dazedly, staring into space,

So she has been paying attention to us,

"Is there an interest inside of you which wonders the why that created our what, for our actions were made by reason,"

"…So, you're honestly going to tell me exactly what you were doing on that train?"

Fawful nods no, "Fawful has no need to, these items should give great conversation," Suddenly, Fawful raises his hand, and some sort of… dark ball appears in it, and it disappears leaving a small sack in his hand,

"What was that…?" Private Jeb asks,

Fawful hands the bag to me, and I take a look through it. Nothing much really, just four stones, and a paper inside of it,

Now what could this be?

As I'm about to take it out, the door to the jailhouse is kicked in. Well, more like it's kicked to pieces,

Both Privates Jeb and Kriegler whip out their handguns and point them at the single person standing at the doorway, and I point my rifle at him. Although, I should say _it_.

The creature standing before us is one that should have been alive. It's died who knows how many times, possibly even more that I will ever know, and in the end, we couldn't finish it, it killed itself.

Envy is standing at the door, the right part of its face covered by darkness with his right eye giving off a glowing red hue. At first it has a disdainful look, but it turns gleeful as it walks in. As it sees me,

"Well, well, well, isn't this my lucky day. For little old me to be in the presence of the great Captain Riza "Hawk's eye" Hawkeye, it is truly an honor," I grit my teeth, and I can feel myself shaking, but I force it to stop. So many questions are running through my head,

How is this possible? Why is he here? How did he find me?

Then take a look at the two figures imprisoned, and connect the dots. It's just a guess, but it's pretty sound. They're working with Envy,

"Envy, I'd say it's a pleasure to see you, but then I'd be lying." His smile fades, and he glares,

He puts his hand on his chin, looks up into the air and mockingly goes "Hmmmmmmmmm," then he goes on to say, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're talking about something that involved a deadly pyromaniac with anger issues," It seems he remembers,

He then grins and says, "I guess that's as close as old Envy is going to get to the flames of Hell isn't it?" He takes another step towards me and I let the first shot fire, hitting him in the head,

As his body goes limp and he falls back, an obvious act to anyone who knows about its kind, I shout, "Both of you, open fire!" but the two soldiers are confused,

"…B-but why, sir? H-he's already d-d-d-d-d-dead…" Then, Envy flips over by thrusting his arms out, and gets on all fours, saying,

"Not even close," Then it turns into a large dog, a brown pit bull, foaming at the mouth, and charges straight at me,

It's intercepted by Private Jeb, who uses a combat knife on its throat, knocking it onto the floor, saying,

"Hah! You dead yet?" He yells,

Envy growls, "Not quite!" Before pouncing on him,

"Jeb!" Private Kriegler shouts as him and I shoot at Envy. Unfortunately, it's too late. Envy's torn out his throat, and now it's looking at us,

"Run!" I shout, as I and Kriegler run to the doorway,

As we're running, we're intercepted by two people blocking the door, a manic man with tanned skin and white-blond hair, and a more composed person with clothing covered in alchemic circles, including a metal plate on each hand, and what appears to be a plate on his back,

I know these two, they're both criminals! Karin Raverce and Greeverce Ratery! Are they working with Envy, Alice, and Fawful? None of this is making any sense!

"Don't think about going anywhere lady! You're just going to stay here and scream while I cut you to pieces." Greeverce sneers, licking one of his knives. He dashes towards me intent on stabbing me in the stomach, but I'm fast enough to stop him.

I have to drop my rifle because of his speed, but I manage to grab his wrist with my left hand, and punch him in the stomach with my right, then in the face. He staggers back, trying to cut me again, but his blade just slices air as I step back casually, and it seems I've actually knocked the wind out of him. It seems he didn't expect much of a challenge. A poor judgment.

Kriegler pulls out his handgun to shoot him, but Envy, who's changed back to its normal form, uses his powers to stretch its leg out, turning it green with those horrifying faces appearing on it, and kick Kriegler out the door.

Envy chuckles as its leg returns to normal, saying, "Just forget it, it's over," And he nonchalantly opens Fawful's cell using his finger, transformed into a skeleton key,

As he does, I try reaching for the pistol, but I stop when I feel a knife on my neck,

"Don't even think about it," Greeverce snarls,

As Envy unlocks Alice's cell, it walks in when she doesn't come out herself, and picks her up by her hair, "Hey, wake up! We're going now, get back to reality!" Alice takes a moment, but she does come out of her mental stupor, clearly upset by being held by her hair,

"Unhand me you filthy wretch," Envy then throws Alice onto the ground saying, "Oh, a filthy wretch am I?" It then steps on Alice's face and says, "Well, which of us is really filthy? The one standing up here, dignity intact, or the one on the floor with her head in the dirt?" I see Alice's hand move in a blur, and a quick gleam of metal, from a knife that suddenly appeared, and blood starts pouring out of Envy's leg,

"Agh! What the hell!" It screams. Alice stands up saying,

"It's obvious who's filthy. The one with blood covering their leg." Envy is angered and starts growling at Alice, who doesn't seem much less angry, though hers is more subtle,

Greeverce is keeping his attention on me, and Fawful seems rather disinterested in it since he's looking away from the whole scene.

As it seems that the two of them are going to fight, Karlin shouts from outside, "Hey! People are coming here. I'm going to scare them away before I take care of this guy,"

"Sure, whatev-" But as Envy starts his sentence, an explosion goes off outside, cracking the walls on the jailhouse, and then a second one goes off.

I do my best to look backwards, and see flames coming out of the door. I smile,

Envy notices this and glares at me, "What are you so happy about?"

"Envy, have you ever heard of the saying, 'Those who don't learn from the past are bound to repeat it?'"

He continues to glare, and says, "George Santanaya, something that became a main root of many philosopher's beliefs,"

Hm… that was… interesting…

"What about it?" He barks,

"Simply this: You haven't changed a bit from the time before your death, so you're going to experience the same type of torture you did before. At Roy Mustang's hands,"

* * *

"Aaaauuuugh! What the hell was that!" The chubby guy that was kicked out of the jail house by Envy, standing up on his feet only to be knocked down again. Poor guy. Glad I took his gun though, things might have gotten messy otherwise.

He tries getting up, but I hit him in the back of the head, hard enough to knock him out.

I struggle to stand up because of the splitting pain in my head. Really hoping that that's just a headache and not a concussion,

I look at some flames that remain on the grass and realize that it was flame alchemy. There's only one person that I know who can use flame alchemist.

I look at where the alchemy that made the explosion and see the Flame Alchemist himself, General Roy Mustang, with a young man next to him… odd, he looks familiar…. wait, I think I may know him, not personally but… whatever, that's for another time.

Both of them stare up at me, and Mustang is the first to talk, "Karlin Raverce, correct? I've heard rumors of your alchemy, and they seem to do you justice."

"That's quite a compliment coming from you, Mustang. Why, I bet you could incinerate over fifty Ishvalans at once with that kind of power. Ever given it a try?" I say mockingly, keeping a calm face. If there is one thing I hate, its dogs of the military like him.

"Colonel, who is this guy?" The young man next to him asks,

"Al, this is man, Karlin Raverce, is a former State Alchemist, imprisoned for life after his conviction for killing ten people, an entire family at that," The boy is a bit shaken by that, but not by much. Either he's colder than he looks, or he's experienced his share of tragedies, "I suppose I should call you by your code name, correct,"

My eyes narrow and I say, "Do as you please, you're not going to stop us. Do you know why?" Balls of glowing energy begin to form on the circles on my clothing, on the front of my left shoulder, the back of my neck, my left abdomen, and several other places,

I'm very lucky for the full moon tonight.

"The reason is you are going to die, at the hands of the Flash Point Alchemist, Karlin Raverce." The concentrated energy from the balls of light around me stream into my left hand, and I let the next explosion loose, prepared to follow with many others.

* * *

"Duck!" I shout to the Colonel as I dodge the energy beam. He dodges my way, and snaps his fingers, making a huge explosion aimed at Karlin. Unfortunately, he manages to run from the flame, and is only blown away,

"Colonel, what is that?" I shout, as I clap my hands together to launch a stone fist into his face, which he dodges by bending back, and destroys the arm,

"He's gathering the light in the area, focusing it, and shooting it at us!" Mustang snaps his fingers again, and Karlin dodge rolls out of the way, the balls of light staying away from the ground. He must be very intelligent to be able to multitask like that,

Using light … I've never heard of such a thing, though it doesn't seem entirely impossible. Alchemy is the science of changing elements into different shapes and forms. Energy can be manipulated too, like the way alchemists use the energy from the movement and collision of the earth's crusts. Light has been shown to have characteristics of particles and energy, so it makes sense. Just jamming it all together is actually pretty basic in terms of alchemy.

I transmute a series of small square hills onto the ground to try making him lose his balance, but he simply side steps my attack, and rolls back as the Colonel uses another flame attack,

He then shoots ten smaller shots at us, each from one of his fingers, blowing dirt into the air. I cough out some of it that I accidentally breathed in as I transmute a stone hand from the earth, smacking Karlin in the head,

"Agh! You little…!"

Karlin gathers some light into his metal plated palm and lets in burst out, blocking mine and the Colonel's vision.

Suddenly, the light's blocked by something giving my eyes a bit of relief, and to my horror, I realize why I can see,

Karlin is right in front of me, with some sort of weapon in his hand.

I manage to grab both of his wrists and throw him over me,

He lands on his feet as I make a steel sword for myself to fight him with. As the light fades, I charge at him with my blade, but he easily slices through it… the sword he had is made of pure light,

He's about to thrust it through my head when the Colonel screams,

"Al! Watch out!" and an explosion forms between the two of us,

"Agh! Bastard!" Karlin curses as he's blown away.

I use this opportunity to bring two large stone walls up with my alchemy and flatten him between them so that he can't move, but he uses light from both of his hands to destroy them, with debris falling on top of him, and the walls he blew up turned to dust, blocking my vision,

"Al, transmute a weapon, even at night, he's still incredibly dangerous,"

I transmute a steel spear from the earth and prepare myself for the next attack.

Suddenly, another light beam is shot at the two of us, and unfortunately it hits the mark. It's not an explosive one, it's mainly meant for piercing. I learn that from what I see.

The way that it pierces Roy Mustang's chest,

"Colonel!" I scream,

He doesn't say anything, he just scream in pain and begins to lose his balance, and he coughs up blood,

"Dammit…" he chokes out, and snapping both of his fingers, launches two sparks that send Karlin flying towards us, screaming,

He's about a good twenty feet away from us, passed out, and should be apprehended, but I need to help Colonel Mustang! I think his lung may have been pierced!

Mustang is kneeling on the ground trying to cover his wound, but he can only cover the front, and he's losing too much blood as it is,

As I run up to him, he tries pushing me off, but I force him to the ground, "No! I need to heal you first Colonel! Karlin has definitely pierced your lung, even your rib! If I don't stop the blood and get you to the clinic, you'll die!"

I frantically flip him over and rip off the part of his uniform covering the hole on his back and haling it, ignoring the Colonel's struggles, "Al…..! Stop… it…! *Hack* *Cough*"

The next part is a bit trickier. This time, I rip a segment of the cloth off, and use alchemy to transmute it. I transmute the cloth onto a square shape, and turn the four sides moist and pulpy. After that, I spread the moister parts out, and concentrate the water into the center so that it dries on. Now, when the Colonel breathes, air shouldn't escape from his lungs, but I need to get him back to the clinic. I can't seal the wound because blood needs to be drained out of his body and I still don't know how to heal internal injuries.

"Al… what are you doing…?"

"Shut up! I'm saving your damned life, Colonel!"

"Al… you don't understand... behind you…!"

Suddenly, I feel something knocked against my head, and I look down to see a silver watch. The kind State Alchemists have. Then I realize what the Colonel was going to say,

The former State Alchemist is still awake.

I turn around to see him limping towards us, gripping his side in pain. His clothes, and some of his skin are burned, but he's still as determined as ever to fight us, and those orbs around his body, though wavering and fading, still show he has some fight left in him,

"Tell me Elric… how does being powerless feel?"

"…Powerless?"

"Yes powerless. Just like with the xingese girl that you couldn't save on your own. Tell me, how does it feel to know that there is something you can't do. Something that needs to be stopped, but is out of your power, that with all of your amazing abilities, you aren't even close to accomplishing anything other than causing suffering!"

I stand up and shout back, "You're wrong! State Alchemists are for the people! Their job is to help them in any way they can! There may be some who abuse my power, but I know there are State Alchemists who do their job properly! And who the hell are you," I point my finger at Karlin, "a criminal who lost his title, rank, and merit after committing murder one to reprimand them! You have no right to your title, or to this watch of yours!"

Karlin stop in his tracks, and begins giggling to himself.

"Kid, you don't get it. It's not just military dogs, I hate the government in general. I just happen to hate its slaves just as much. Even your so-called hero of a brother, Eddy,"

I glare at him, "So, you know him?"

"Why, of course! Who hasn't heard of the Fullmetal Alchemist! And that little brother of his, the equally skilled Alphonse! Though, he withdrew from the military after that, so he's just become a legend after what you and him did. Out of curiosity, why was that? Was it because of some guilt for sins you committed… or perhaps it's because an Alchemist needs to know how to use Alchemy."

Suddenly, I'm confused. Is he serious, or is this some sort of bluff? Ed didn't advertise how he lost his Alchemy, but he didn't feel ashamed of it either. Even then, he kept it to himself, so how did he know?

"I know what you're thinking, 'How does he know this?' Well, that's not a very important question to you. What should be important is one about that pocket watch."

The pocket watch…

I observe the watch in question, and start wondering what he could mean. It looks like one any other State Alchemist would have, silver with the military's symbol on it… one carried by an ex-State Alchemist who was imprisoned.

"Why do you have this with you? This should have been confiscated, along with your alchemic equipment, after your incarceration."

Karlin puts a grimace on his face as he looks at me, "The equipment was given to me by my… leader as it were. And the watch… well, who do you know that was allowed to keep it as a souvenir after his retirement?" I think about who he means, and my heart rate slowly increases as I realize who he means.

I stare at the watch, the silver it's made of shining in the moonlight. As I reach to open it, my hands begin to shake, afraid of what I find. I force myself to open it, and feel a chill go through my body.

Don't forget, 3. Oct. 10

The inscription that Edward made in his watch the day we left Risembool. This is exactly the same, the same carvings, the same shine, the same chain, the same memories it carries.

The only differences are the small blood stains inside of it,

* * *

**I hope you liked it, read and review!**

**Also, let me explain Karlin's code name, it's sort of complicated.**

**The term 'flash point' can be used to say when something combustible ignites, but it can also be defined as the point at which something is ready to blow up, a reference to the way he concentrates light and makes explosions. Also, 'flash' refers to the light he uses. Hope it makes sense now if anyone was confused, until next chapter!**


	13. Anger

**Here's the next chapter!**

* * *

"And that's the plan, are there any questions?"

Any questions? I can write a novel, no, a series of books that encompass all of the questions that I have for this fellow, Envy as he calls himself.

I haven't met him, or the other two that barged into this room before, and doubt that I can risk trusting them. Though they did take out the guards, and Envy knocked out . As for questions…

"Yes, I have one." Envy looks at me angrily, most likely sore about what I did, and I say, "Don't give me that look, you earned what I did to that leg of yours. Besides it's healed. And I just want to know about what we'll be doing now that the mission is finished?"

Envy gives me a blank look before bursting out and laughing so hard, he's on his hands and knees, banging onto the floor,

"It seems I missed the joke, do humor me Envy. I can't stand to hear your ridiculous laughter," I cross my arms indignantly. If I don't get my answer, I'm going to play a game called lobotomy, based on my time in Rutledge. Only, I'll be a doctor, and he'll be a patient,

"Ahahahaha.! Aha… ha… Ahem! Listen, what makes you think it's over?"

I don't like that grin. It's like the one Cheshire usually gives me whenever I get a cryptic message from him,

Envy thrusts his face into mine so that they're almost touching and gives me a devious grin, "Well, things are far from over. In fact, who knows just how long everything will take, and what we'll have to do to get what each of us wants."

Not quite like Cheshire. That's like comparing a kitten to a lion, this man is not intimidating in the least,

I chuckle, "Well, that's interesting. Are you sure you have the mettle to handle such an arduous task? I mean, you were on the floor screaming louder than an infant with in slice of my knife,"

Still smiling he says, "All I know is that I'm going to be outliving you, I'll make sure of it," Another explosion goes off and I look out the window at the light it makes. I swear, if I was a few years younger I'd assume that there was a war going on,

"There is questioning from Fawful I need." Envy stares at Fawful and Greverce says,

"What the Hell…?"

"He has a question as well."

"Huh… impressive, you're pretty smart. If I ever go on a killing spree, you'll be the last to go," I suppose that was his twisted version of a compliment towards my intelligence, but it's hardly necessary. I just spent so much time waiting for that train and listening to Fawful rant that I actually managed to understand it. Sort of like an owner discerns what their pet says,

"So, what do you want, bean boy?" Envy says, crossing his arms,

"That which is inquiry is based on the helmet that is mine, which is currently not mine. The person who has become the one to claim mine for it is the Eyehawk. Shall there be fixture applied?"

After a pause, Envy gives me a nasty look, probably hoping for a translation, but not willing to ask. Fine, I'll work with him, but as soon as we're out of peril, I'll be less friendly than I am currently.

"His helmet was confiscated by and he wants to know if he can get it back." I say, leaning against the wall, peering out at a cloud of dust and the young along with a gentleman with black hair.

"Oh… no, we won't. You can just build a new one." Fawful is taken aback and says,

"Th-there won't be anything I have that allows my own ability for creating that helmet in repeat!" and I translate,

"He says that he won't be able to rebuild a helmet like the last one… well, the only difference for that would be that it isn't the helmet that was lost."

"What you say is the issues exactness!"

Envy walks over to Fawful and yanks him up by his robe, saying,

"This wouldn't be happening if you did your job right and got what we needed. Now someone _else_ has to take care of it."

"And you're sure this little plan of your will work out?" Envy looks at me and says,

"Trust me, this'll go off without a-"

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER!?" A loud scream is let out and all four of us stop talking. Suddenly we here some crashing noises coming from where Karlin is fighting and look out the window.

is enraged and currently launching boulders at that Alchemist fellow, who is barely managing to destroy any coming at him with those energy beams.

"That's not good," Envy says, nonchalantly, "Alice, go help him, I'll have that scientist open a gate for you,"

"Why the hell should I do this?"

Envy grins evilly and says, "Because I'm in charge right now, and everything I say goes," Spiteful little imp, "Greeverce, Fawful, let's move. And wish Alice luck," I have the most unsurprising urge to hit him right now,

"Don't die Alice!" Shouts Greeverce cheerily,

"May you have many fortunes for your safety," The three of them leave and with that, I'm left to fend for myself… that won't be the case if Karlin actually pulls his own weight though.

* * *

I can't believe it… I've never… never seen Al this… angry. This may be even worse than anything I've seen out of Ed.

After Karlin told him about what I think is Ed's pocket watch, Al snappe. He screamed and his attacks became much more vicious. I think he may actually be trying to kill him.

"A-*Cough*" I try screaming at Al to get him to stop, but I'm only able to cough up blood. That light attack really got me…

Karlin blows up the last in a series of boulders as Al transmutes a massive stone wall behind him. Karlin tries blasting through it, but it' built too dense. He only causes some of the rock to crumble off. He turns to Al and tries to shoot him with the same attack he used on me, but Al dodges it just as his hand is pointed at him, and the beam misses.

Als next attack involves using two large blocks that he transmutes at his sides. After doing that, he claps his hands together and places each on one of the blocks and it starts launching small spikes at Karlin. They're about the size of a person's hand, and while they might not seem very dangerous, but the amount of them helps increase the hazard.

Karlin tries to shoot a few blasts, but he has to keep dodging and eventually stops trying to fire all together as the spikes continue to fire. Then, as it ends, Karlin tries shooting Al Again, but he manages to move out of the way.

Al responds by transmuting two walls on Karlin's side's, as thick as the last one, preventing him from escaping and blocking him from my view. Then, as Al bends down to dodge another shot, he transmutes a large stone fist into the makeshift corridor and I hear it smash against the wall.

For a moment, all is silent, and I don't know what just happened…

Al… did you… did you just become a murderer…?

* * *

"*Hah* *Hah* *Hah* *Hah*" I stand up, catching my breath as I take in what I've just done… it's a bit of a blur…

After Karlin told me the truth about the watch… I must have dropped it… I just got so angry. My throat is soar from my screaming, I've never said anything that loudly before.

I look into the rock walls that I must have made… I used them to trap Karlin in and then… oh God… oh God… tell me I didn't…

I stand up and look into the walls, trying to see any sign of life, but whatever light the moon is giving off is being blocked, and I can't see anything… I need to be sure. I take a few steps forward to the structure and try peering in. I don't see anything, but I hear something tapping, and the next thing I know, I get kicked in the face!

Footstep! That's what that was! He must have jumped in top of the attack to avoid it!

I stagger back, but force myself to keep standing, and spin around to transmute a part of the earth launching Karlin up into the air like a springboard, and without thinking, create a large spike from the earth to pierce though him.

My blood chills as it makes contact, but instead of getting stabbed, he is just pushed through the air and that metal plate on his back is shattered.

Karlin lands on both of his feet, and as I try to transmute something else, he grabs both of my hands to stop me and pulls me in to head butt me. Two can play at that game!

I grip both of his hands as he lets go and smash him in the head just as hard, if not harder. When I grab his hands, I notice that he doesn't have the metal plates with the transmutation circles on them. I guess he lost them when I attacked him. He must be trying to corner me in close combat.

I'd say that it's a smart move on his part, State Alchemists aren't known for their strength in close combat, but it isn't, because I'm an exception.

Karlin staggers back a bit and lunges at me, trying to punch me in the face. I step back, getting hit by his first jab, but dodge the other two that follow. After trying to hit me a fourth time, I take his arm and throw him over my shoulders and into the air. He lands on his feet again, but is met with a round kick to the side of his chest that he was gripping earlier.

"Aah!" He stumbles to the side, and I land two more blows, an uppercut to his chin, and a blow to his stomach.

Karlin kneels on the ground, clutching his gut in pain, and moaning. I walk up to him, thinking that he's done, but he leaps up and tries to sucker punch me. I dodge him, and grab his wrist, forcing him onto the ground, and begin to twist his arm.

"Argh! Dammit…!" I twist more and say,

"Now you're going to tell me. Everything. About you, your allies… and my brother! Or I'll…"

Karlin glares up at me and snarls, "Or what? You'll kill me like you tried to before?" I think carefully about my next answer…

"No, I'm not going to kill you. In fact, I'm going to treat you like I would any otehr person who commited a crime ad throw you into jail," He is at a loss for words, but he seems mistaken. He's assuming he's getting let off easy, "Oh no, this isn't a free pass to ecap punishment. You'll be interrogated by military officials who want answers, and will do anything to get them… anything except for killing you, which they'll actually do in the courts after your trial. However, I'm capable of putting in a good word for you, and even cutting down the amount of time you'll be interrogated… but if you don't tell me anything, I will leave you at the governments complete mercy. Those are your options,"

Karlin stops to think and for a while, I wait to hear what he's saying, and then when he does, what comes out is, "If I tell you too much, the people I'm working with will probably make me wish that I let myself be put to the governments 'complete mercy,' or whatever keeps officials from killing off anyone they don't like… what do you want to know?"

"My brother. What happened to him?"

"I don't kno-Grah!" I twist his arm harshly,

"Don't tell me that! You stole my brother's pocket watch from him! You knew he wasn't an Alchemist! What happened to my brother?" I scream at the top of my lungs,

"…It was a train… going from Creta into Amestris…! We were… sent on the mission and each given different jobs…! My job… was to have all of the passengers tied up and unable to do anything to help your brother… but I didn't see a thing! I was in the other cars, and I just heard him screaming… I had to go a few cars down to avoid the sound… but I didn't do a thing to your brother…!"

"Who was it?" Karlin doesn't answer, so I force him to, "Who hurt my big brother!"

"Aaaaaaagh!" Karlin screams, but refuses to give out the information, and I continue to twist. As I begin to fear breaking his arm, a voice behind me tells me,

"There were two other people working for him, at least that's what I was told when I was briefed."

When I turn around, I feel a familiar anger burn up inside me... the same kind I felt towards Karlin just a few moments ago. And it's directed at the person who just gave me a proper answer to my question.

"Alice…"

* * *

**Ooooooh, even I can't wait to see what happens next! And I'm the author. READ AND REVIEW!**


	14. Mad

**Well, I hope you enjoy this next one, because I sure loved writing it! I hope you enjoy it! :)**

* * *

"…"

"Sheska?" My head jerks up and I look at Tia, with a tray full of food for all of us, who has entered the small room I've been staying at since we arrived in this town with the others. I haven't really been interacting with anyone else, I've been kind of on edge with everything that's happened. I've just been watching mine and Riza's suitcase, which I should probably close since no one else should see our private contents, and reading a good novel to pass the time until I and Riza can get back to Central. Hopefully may will be better soon…

I honestly don't know her personal, but it's only natural that I should feel worried for another person. She helped us out on the train, and her and Al seem to be really close. I hope she pulls through…

"'Lo? Anyone in there?" Tia waves her hand in front of my face and I say,

"S-sorry about that, I was just thinking… about May and all…" I tell her shyly

"Well, when yer' done thinkin' 'bout 'er, why don'cha actually ask how she's doin'?" I stare at Tia with my mouth agape and say,

"She's… she's okay?"

"Just fine 'n dandy. With 'er healin' skills, she'll stand as straight as a sunflower 'n no time flat!"

"That's great! I'm so glad you were able to fix…" I stop talking when I think about what she just said, "Stand as straight as a sunflower?" Tia gets tense and says,

"Oh! That! Yeah, uh-well, it's… it's farm girl talk! Ya' know… cuz' they're all tall and… straight… I'm an adult, _shut up!_"

"Okay, I'll just drop it. Anyway, thanks for making food for all of us every night, we really appreciate it, but you really don't need-" Tia puts the food down and says

"Poppycock! I'm happy to with all the General did, helpin' my sister out an' makin' my lil' bro so happy, it's the least I can do. Silly kid…" I'm older than you, "So, what're ya' readin'?"

"Oh, this! It's called, Dark and Light: Two Sides of the Same Coin. It's about a war going on, but it goes on to indicate both sides of the war, and the reasons people are fighting to win on both sides. It's by my favorite author James Grahl,"

"'That so?" Tia sits down next to me next to the bed, "He must be pretty famous if he's that good."

"Well… actually no." I scratch the back of my head nervously, "He's sort of a diamond in the ruff that hasn't been found yet."

"Whaddya' mean?"

"He's not very famous at all, he's preferred to stay anonymous, and has never gone out of his way to publish his books all over Amestris. There are only a handful of books made by him, and they're all handwritten, one each."

"Huh… you must have been lucky to have been able to find it."

"Yeah, luck… anyway, do you need any help with anything? I'm free and would love something to do!"

"Hmmmmm, nope, nothin' in particular. I could use a drink o' water… by the way, about those explosions outside."

"Do you know what they are? We figured that we would check it out, but-"

"No worries, just some dumb kids messin' 'round with fireworks. No need to trouble yerselves, just lemme have some water, five minutes off mah' feet, and I'll giv'em a stern talkin' to. Not that they'll learn anythin'. Prob'ly jus' ignore me and keep doin' what they're doin'."

"Alright, just give me a minute." I walk out of my room and into the bathroom, pouring some water from the tap and into two cups, one for me and the other for Tia. As I walk out of the room, I walk in on Tia looking into my books cover,

"Jus' takin' a gander at it." She says, putting it down and walking towards me, guzzling down the water in one gulp and walking out, saying,

"Welp' take care of yerself Sheska! See ya' later!"

"Bye!" I tell her. After sitting down, I take a sip in my water, and set my eyes to my novels contents, allowing myself to be sucked back into the world made merely out of ink and paper.

* * *

I stare at the young woman in an elegant blue dress with a pure white kitchen apron on. Her green eyes are shining in the moonlight and her black hair is flowing in the wind. I must say, Alice is beautiful, but her looks have a strange sort of ferocity to her. Something, besides what I've seen of her so far, tells me I need to be careful of her.

I just look at her apprehensively, and she does the same, showing little to no emotion. Suddenly, she looks slightly surprised and apologizes, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, being enemies is no excuse for a lack of formality," She then curtsies and says, "My name is Alice Liddel, it's a pleasure to meet you… though we seem to be beyond the the point of polite mannerism's, wouldn't you say Mr. Elric?"

I look at her apprehensively and say, "Of course it is! You nearly killed my friend fand endangered all of the innocent people on that train! Do you think a false display of kindness will stop me from putting you back into that cell you escaped out of?" Alice scowls and says,

"I assumed that it wouldn't be that easy, but nothing can ever be so simple for me. Time to get down to business, I need you to unhand Mr. Raverce there, I'm taking him with me. If you don't… well, I'll hurt you a _lot_ worse than I hurt your friend." The seriousness in her voice tells me that she means what she's saying; she's going to get this man away from me by any means possible.

And I'm going to stop her from doing so, _by any means possible!_

I stand up and prepare to fight with Alice. Karlin's too injured to really do anything, I don't need to worry about him.

"I'm ready whenever you are!" I enter a fighting stance and prepare myself, but Alice doesn't seem interested,

"I think I should get him away from the battlefield. I hate it when I'm responsible for people's deaths… at least when it's not intentional. Also, duck." I notice something red in the corner of my eye and snap my neck backwards, a red, heart shaped blade barely missing me,

I immediately launch a punch in the face of my attacker, and hear some bone crack, and feel my hand throbbing. Looking at the disturbing face of my opponent, I understand why my hand is hurt.

There's no skin on his face to cushion my fist.

The creature stumbles back, and screams harshly at me, bringing the same blade it had before, which was apparently part of a long, double-handed axe, down onto my head. I grab it and pull it towards me, along with its wilder who I kick back, taking the axe for myself.

The creature stands back up, and I take in its bizarre appearance in a split second. It's a person… no, some sort of zombie! Its face has rotted away leaving only the skull that I punched and fractured with a black hood covering its head that goes down to its shoulders. It has a strange white suit on with several marks that look like black clubs, and the anomalies on this thing only get stranger. It has a club shaped hole on its rectangular torso, with stitches on its body and it bleeding from all of them, plus the stitches holding it's limbs onto it that have black gloves and boots on them.

As the creature screams and comes towards me, I swing the axe diagonally, slicing right through the beast, seemingly killing it. Blood pours out and it screeches before collapsing to the floor. After it collapses onto the ground, I feel a brief pang of guilt, along with my stomach wrenching, and I nearly throw up in disgust of what I… what I just did…

However, something odd happens. The creature disappears, it's body fading away into nothing along with all of its bodily fluids. The axe I'm wielding does the same. I'd wonder what happens, but I have bigger things to worry about.

Suddenly, four other creatures like the last tear themselves from the ground, two with the same club designs, and two others with red diamond designs replacing the black clubs, one of each type holding another axe.

I accidentally let out a small shriek when Alice suddenly says, "They're called Card Guards, formerly under the service of the Red Queen, now under service of me. Poor things, nothing but the most basic instincts of a simple beast or less since they're the living dead, yet they're probably brighter now than any other time in their lives." Alice says with a sigh,

Alice is closer then before, very close, but I don't dare take my eyes off of the… Card Guards as called them, fearing for my safety and my life.

"I'll be with you in a moment, and I do hope that my paltry forces can keep you from getting bored."

As if on cue, as soon as Alice stops talking, the monstrous creatures scream and attack me at once.

* * *

"Hey… thanks for the save," Karlin says, as I carry him over my shoulders, struggling to keep my balance. If only I wasn't so small, carrying someone wouldn't be nearly as much of a chore,

"Save your thanks for someone else. I'm only saving your life because I was required to," I tell him, as I observe Mr. Elric fighting. At the moment he's stepping back from a Spade Card Guard's axe swinging at him several times, and an unarmed guard, along with an unarmed Diamond Card Guard trying to claw or punch him,

"If you didn't care, you'd just focus on saving my life," Mr. Elric dodges the attacks from one Card Guard, promptly tossing it into the other, taking care of two obstacles, temporarily. The Diamond Card Guard in the back growls and thrusts it's axe into the air, launching a small diamond projectile.

Karlin groans painfully as I set him onto the ground, "And that's what I'm doing. Now, you know how to get back to the base, correct?" He nods and pulls out a small electronic device, pressing the button and a red light on it starts flashing,

Mr. Elric's taken the projectile into his shoulder and falls back, a perfect victim for the Card Guard's Axe. Just as he's about to become a victim, he claps his hands together and a stone wall appears out of the ground, stopping the axe and causing it to go up with the rising wall.

Then, he claps them together again, and forces the wall down on the guards quickly, effectively crushing two of the Card Guards. The third steps back and launches a diamond shaped projectile at its target that is meant to pierce his internal organs. However, the same projectile is launched back, blocking it. This one has blood on it… so he yanked it out of his shoulder and used it as his own.

"No, if that was it, you'd have just attacked Alphonse without thinking, only making sure that you don't hit a vital organ or that I don't bleed out. Keeping away from a battlefield shows that you want to help me avoid pain, and therefore, are worried about another human being." Karlin says,

I don't say anything other than, "…Perhaps," because I don't know if he's right. I've been willing to harm anyone and everything that gets in my way, however I've only done that to things or people that would do me wrong. I have no reason to let Karlin get hurt and then there's… perhaps there is a hint of accuracy in his words.

Though I wonder, why do I feel guilt for fighting Mr. Elric?

Speaking of which, he has just created a knife from the earth, ans has charged at the Card Guard that attacked him, viciously hacking away, while wearing a strange face… odd, it's been quite some time since I saw someone that frightened. The last time I recall it was… my last meeting with Dr. Bumby. The dead can't schedule appointments, to the best of my knowledge.

After the creature is good, dead, and fades away, Mr. Elric turns to the last Card Guard, and charges at it, ducking the axe it swings at him, and he slashes it's chest, cutting through the diamond hole. It punches Mr. Elric in the face, but he doesn't stop attacking.

As the last Card Guard is overpowered, I walk towards Mr. Elric, listening to Karlin tell me, "Just hold him off for a few minutes, after that, we leave."

* * *

Cut. Cut . Cut.

I keep slicing the Card Guard in front of me, trying my best to ignore it. Ignore the screams of pain… ignore the blood pouring out of it… ignore the… the way it feels for my knife to… to cut… to cut through it…

As the creature collapses to the ground, I fall to my knees and throw up, unable to keep my food in my stomach any longer. I'm panting and sweating from all of the fighting and the shock…

What… what on Earth is going on? What are these things? Are they… real? I look at all of the blood on my hands, and fear that I may wretch again…

But suddenly, the same thing that happened before repeats.

The blood disappears from my hands, fading away, and so does the… body left behind.

What's going on? Am I going-

"No, you're not going crazy." I force myself onto my feet in a flash and turn around to look at Alice,

"How did you…?"

"You just had that look on your face, the one where you question what you know to be real and fake. I've seen that face many times when I've looked into a mirror in the past."

"…What were those things?" Alice looks slightly annoyed, "Didn't I tell you already, they're-" I charge at her and bring my knife down, out of sheer frustration, which she blocks with her own. As I push down on her with my knife, I shout,

"I know what they're called! But those monsters… they… they couldn't be real, that's impossible!" I keep pushing down on her, but even then I can't over power her! How is she even this strong! Nothing makes sense about this girl!

"You want to know so badly?" She asks, promptly pushing me back, and suddenly smacking me with some sort of hammer, that sends a jolt of electricity into my head,

I watch, dazed, as multiple Alice's run backwards, and as everything comes into focus, a toadstool of some sort pops out of the ground in front of Alice, who is now about ten feet away from me.

"Mr. Elric, you said that what you've seen can't be real, and you're right. The Card Guards aren't real… in fact a lot of what you've seen is just from…" Alice makes a short dash onto the toadstool and is launched into the air, and comes down on me with her knife trying to cut me!

"…My own mad mind!"

I block it with my own, using two hands, and as I fall backwards, I get my feet onto Alice's stomach and push her over me, pushing her backwards.

I roll to my front, and stand up, preparing myself for Alice's next strike, which is the first in a series of attacks with her knife.

Our blades clash rapidly, letting out a harmony of noise in the night,

"What do you mean-" I say pushing her knife back, "they're from your mind?"

"Just that!" She deflects one of my attacks, "I've seen many terrible things in my life! Tell me, is it sad that most of them were distortions created in my own head!" She forces me back with one strong strike,

"Tell me, are you going to laugh at the mad woman!" She takes out two metal objects that I assume are meant to be thrown and I create a cage-like wall in front of me to block the attack and let me keep an eye on what she's doing,

However, as they're thrown, the objects don't get blocked by the cage,

Instead, both of them go around it, catching my off guard and piercing my chest and torso,

"Aauugh!" I clap my hands together and tap all of the bars for the cage, making them transmute so that they thrust forward towards Alice,

She sidesteps them and tosses her knife at me, which I catch between my hands. The knife disappears and reappears in Alice's hands. I avoid the attack, grabbing her hand along with the one with the knife in it, trying my best to restrain her,

But my best is barely doing its job, so I think I'll need to ask her some things while she's restrained,

"Just stop! I need to ask you a question!" Alice struggles viciously against me, nearly forcing me off balance a few times,

"And just why should I help you!" She says, rather composed, despite the fight going on

"I'm sorry about whatever happened to you! All I want is to find my brother!" Alice stops and looks me in the eyes, shocked, "I don't know what happened to him, I think he may be hurt… or worse… I just want to find him! Please!" I have to blink tears out of my eyes,

"I'm so worried… just please give me an answer."

Alice thinks for a moment, looking uncertain, "Well…"

"Alice, come on!" Karlin screams, and I look in his direction. He has a strange white portal open in front of him with white energy streams swirling going into… some sort of white room…

I feel a sharp pain in my gut and realize Alice just kicked me!

Karlin hobbles into the portal, and Alice runs after him,

"Wait! *Cough* *Cough* Please!" I hold my stomach from pain,

Just as Alice is about to enter the portal, she turns to me and for a brief moment, I can see something that looks… like sympathy in them,

"Call Ms. Armstrong about your brother's current condition, Mr. Elric. And do take care, we'll meet again," Alice walks through the portal, which closes, and I'm left alone with so many questions,

What happened to my brother? What does Major General Armstrong have to do with him? Who is that group, and who is Alice?

However, I do manage to answer one of my questions as I run to Colonel Mustang and pick him up; how am I going to get him healed.

Ignoring my own pain, I take Colonel Mustang to the clinic to have Tia treat him, and help him myself in any way I can,

* * *

**Confused? I hope so, that was my intention. Don't worry, you'll just have to read what's next to get less confused. Read and Review!**


	15. Darkness

**Behold, the longest chapter I have written yet! Be sure to review EVERYTHING you find interesting! **

* * *

I dash into the clinic and take a sharp breathe of air when I see something wrong, the first thing being the fact that the door was kicked in!

"Hello!" I run in, looking around, laying the Colonel down. I look around to see broken cabinets, a smashed window, cracked medicine bottles… I see everything except for May and Tia!

"May, Tia, are you in here!" and just when I think my heart is about to burst out of my chest I hear,

"Alphonse?" From the closet near me, I run towards it, trying to open the door, shouting,

"May, what happened? I came in and the place is a wreck-"

"What! Wha'd he do? Wha'd that crazy nut job do to mah' clinic! What am I sayin', open the door! Do it now!" I hear Tia shrieking from inside the closet, and I feel more of my fear ease,

"Tia! I'm so glad to-"

"Don't say see, because that'll only happen when ya'll _open the door!_"

"I'm trying but it's lo-"

"Then bust it down, I don' care! Just get me outta here! Now!"

"Alright, I'll transmute the door know, and let you out," I clap my hands together, "But seriously what happened in here?"

"Al, sweetie" Tia says gently, a sharp contrast from her tone before, "I know yer' interested in knowin' what happened here, and I'd be more than willin' to tell ya'll, but there's one thing I need ya'll to do fer' me. Listen carefully," I lean close to the door to hear what she has to say,

"OPEN THE %$#ING DOOR!" I step back, grabbing my ear, which is probably going to be ringing in a few minutes thanks to Tia, and grab the door's handle, letting the door swing open and Tia runs straight at me, grabbing me in a hug,

"Girl's! It's so great to see you both!" I say happily, but May seems shocked, with her mouth dropped, "Is something wrong May?" I say, confused,

She points accusingly at Tia, who is still hugging me, and stutters, "Wh-what are you d-doing! You get out of a closet and the first thing you do is hug someone!" She says, her face beet red,

Man, she always acts so weird whenever I'm around a girl. Maybe I'm being offensive and I don't know it?

"Did you want a hug May?" I ask.

She looks away indignantly, wincing slightly from her wounds, saying, "That's not what it's about."

"Well, what is it about?"

Her face reddens a bit again, and she says, "Oh, it's nothing, just forget it!" Why is she so mad at me?

"Hey… Al…" I look down at Tia, who's hair has fallen out of its pony tail looking disshelved, and her glasses are off too. On or off, she's very pretty,

And now that I think about it, she's been shaking since she grabbed me,

"What's up?"

"Sorry, 'bout screamin', an' swearin', and clingin' onto ya'll like this… I'm jus' real claustrophbic an' I tend to get… mildly stressed in small spaces." Her grip tightens and siuudenly it's getting harder for me to breathe,

I tell her, "No problem," patting her on her back, and she slowly loosens her grip and releases me,

Though that's not what I'd call mildly stressed out, a thought I keep to myself,

After I explain what happened to Colonel Mustang to May and Tia, Tia goes into another room to perform some surgery on him, and sedate him, and I listen to what happened to May and Tia,

"Awright, let's get down to the nitty gritty of it," Tia says, in the next room, "I calmed May down and gave 'er some vitamins to help her heal up and I had just finished makin' some food when all of a sudden, this transy weirdo kicks the door in and attacks me, wreckin' everythin'. He says he's looking fer' some papers, and considerin' the pride I take in my work, not to mention the bill I'd getfrom the actual owner o' this here establishment, I tried stoppin' 'im from tearin' up the joint, but man… his strength was somethin' else. He tossed me in that there closet, an' May too, then wrecked the whole place. Then he wandered off. He probly' didn't find what he wanted." I nod, taking in everything Tia said.

A person with super human strength, kicking a door in… wait… it can't be!

"May, did you get a good look at who it was?" I ask,

"No… I actually fell asleep, all I can remember are some weird dreams I had," May says sadly, but with a knowing look in her eyes. I had hoped that she would be able to confirm what I saw, so I wouldn't have to ask Tia and get an innocent bystander involved in this,

"Alright then. Tia, can you describe what this person looked like," I ask,

"No prob' Al, but I'd really like to focus on stichin' up yer' pal's innards afterwards if it's all the same to you," She's rather calm for someone operating on a live person, "Anyway, the guy was wearin' a skimpy outfit with a skirt lookin' thing a sleeveless shirt leavin' his belly out in the open, lean an' strong lookin', a headband with a red triangle on it, long hair spikin' out and… I think that's it,"

That description… I can feel chills going down my back. I look at may, and she's looking pale as well, I grab her hand with both of mine as a paltry attempt to comfort her, athough it works better than I think. That's good, because there's one mor question that I need to ask,

"Were there any marks on him?"

"Oh yeah! There was a dragon tattoo 'is left thigh. It was in a circle, head to tail, with a pentagram on it. Weirder then a bull that loves red, I'd say."

That cinches it. I look at May, who has a look in her eyes of both fear and curiosity, a look matching how I'm feeling.

There's only one thing I know with superhuman strength and an Ouroboros mark like that, a Homunculus. I'd be skeptical at first, but Tia's description was too similar to one Homunculus that I'm too familiar with, one that was supposed to have died several months ago when we defeated it's Father.

Envy.

Among all of them, it was definitely the cruelest and most evil. It's jealousy for humanity, driving it to commit its terrible acts makes me both hate and feel sad for it. After hearing from Ed what happened to Envy, all I could feel was complete pity.

"Alphonse!" May whispers so Tia doesn't hear, "Do you think it's true? Envy's back?"

I lean in whispering, "Maybe, I can't say for sure. It might just be an imposter copying Envy. If it is, then this person or people at least know about Homunculi, more likely highly classified information. Colonel Mustang had documented the files in case something like the Homunculi were ever created again, but he'd kept them under lock and key, and he would never pass them on to anyone he didn't consider completely trustworthy."

"So, you're saying someone might have taken the files?" May says,

"Honestly, I hope that's the case," I say grimly,

"What! Why?"

"Because if Envy was brought back to life, then that means the other six could come back too." May gives me a nervous look. The only Homunculi she's ever seen are Pride, Envy, and Father. It's impossible for Father to come back, he's gone. No doubt about it.

However, each of the Homunculi are deadly in their own right. Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, Greed, and Pride. Maybe it would be good if Greed came back, but there's no guarantee he'd be on our side like last time. He wouldn't be in Ling's body, and Ling wouldn't have any influence on him.

"Al," I look up when I hear Lieutenant Hawkeye, but I'm shocked to see the condition she's in.

Her head is bleeding like she was hit on it, and she looks pretty upset. Angry, as angry as she normally looks. The soldier next to her looks pretty freaked out… he's the one that helped move May and take care of her, I think his name was Kriegler.

Behind them are Sheska, Jerso, and Zampano, looking rather guilty… what's going on?

* * *

"Al, Envy is back." Ms. Hawkeye says calmly. It's amazing that she can remain so calm after seeing what those monsters can do… what they have done.

Alphonse never went into detail about the Homunculi. I think I know a lot, but I have a feeling there are other things he left out… he did tell me that Amestris was made for the sole purpose of creating an extremely powerful Philosopher's Stone…

I can't believe I actually wanted one of those terrible things. I was young and naïve, but I still had the good sense to survive a trip through a deadly desert on my own, granted I snuck onto a caravan, and a lot of skill as a martial artist, I still think I was foolish,

A stone that can bypass equivalent exchange? One that can create anything from nothing? I should have seen some sort of catch to it, nothing is that perfect, I never suspected that the stone was made with live people… Or that it was used to make Homunculi.

And now, it seems that Envy is back, and still causing me trouble, with plenty of Help from Alice. He bandaged himself up earlier, but those wounds are serious. I'm going to help heal him later, no 'but's' about it,

"We know, May and Tia were just attacked by-Mmph!" I clamp my hand over Al's mouth, looking away when he stares at me so innocently… dammit! Why does he have to be so cute!

"Al, what about Tia! You just said-"

"You know, I heard that when yer' upset, ya' do things without thinkin', like whisperin' loudly!" Tia shouts,

"It's a good thing you like cat's Al, because one just came out of the bag." I say, I wait for some laughter… weird. I'm pretty sure I've analyzed enough Amestrian to get a joke right. I wanted to make someone laugh,

"Hehehe, good one May." Al is so sweet, that he'd even give someone a pity laugh when they don't even ask for it. I sigh saying,

"Never mind. Tia, this is highly classified!"

"You can say whatever you want as long as you aren't talking to someone doin' surgery on a man's lung! Dammit, what happened ta' 'im? It looks like somethin' seared through 'is chest!"

Riza looks to where Tia's voice is coming from curiously, "Who's injured?"

I look to the ground sadly and tell her, "It's Colonel Mustang." I look back up at her, but see that she hasn't moved… she hasn't even flinched actually. I know that that's not natural. When you care about someone, you're at least supposed to cry for them getting hurt or show some pain… or possibly be in so much pain that you're stunned by it,

"C-c-captain? A-are you… alright?" Then, her eyes close and she collapses onto the ground, barely caught by Kriegler, "CAPTAIN!" He shouts,

I'm about to get up to examine her when she pushes Kriegler away, standing up and saying, "I'm fine! …I'm fine…" She turns around saying, "On to what I need to report," Riza walks away, turning to face a wall, and tells what happened to her, "Tonight, I walked in to the jail cell responding to a request by Fawful, balled in by Private Kriegler," Kriegler salutes, "After I was given this bag filled with several items and papers, which I have yet to examine, Envy broke the door down, and he promptly killed one soldier, Private Jeb, and proceeded to attack the two of us. As you know, we attempted to defend ourselves, but it regenerated from all of the wounds. A we ran away, we were stopped by two men, Karlin Raverce, former State Alchemist, and Greeverce Ratery, wanted serial killer. Envy freed both Alice and Fawful, and Private Kriegler was kicked outside and promptly knocked out by Karlin, when he got into a fight with who I assume to be you Al and General Mustang. After which, I was knocked out, and I had assumed that they escaped. When I woke up, I went outside and woke Private kriegle up, and checked the other two soldiers outside. Both were dead, one with his throat slashe, and the other with a broken neck. And now there are things I need to confirm,"

After making her speech, I notice Riza moving her hand as if she was moving bangs from her eyes… no, that' not her, her hair is always too neat for her to have to do that. She was crying the whole time, and now she's wiping her tears. I wonder how she can still be so strong after what happened to Roy?

"Um… this is where we come in… or more specifically me…" Jerso puts a hand on her shoulder, saying,

"It's alright, all three of us messed up."

"What do you mean?" Zampano speaks up next

"Well… Captain Hawkeye came up with a theory after something was stolen and replaced, but… we need to ask that Tia girl a few questions,"

"Shoot, partner! Roy's pretty stable, no worries about him, I'll jus' keep werkin' on 'im while ya' grill me," She seems a bit cynical about the questions. I guess she likes the Government of Amestris as much as anyone else in this town,

"Tia, did you cook food tonight, as you do any other night?"

"That's right! Home cooked food, nice n' healthy! Fresh too, 'specially the veggies! I even cook those custom orders. By the way, I think yer' ham might be cold by now,"

"How did you keep track of them?"

"I have this nasty lil' habit o' labelin' things when I'm nervous, and I was a bit nervous 'bout dissappointin' ya'll. They're on a few things in here, if ya' look and I labeled the name of who the food belonged to right below the dish!"

"And, did you converse with Envy at all?"

"I screamed bloody murder at it, if ya' count that as conversin'." Lieutenant Hawkeye sighs,

I stand up saying, "Um… Riza," She looks at me and I go on to say, "I really don't see what this has to do with anything about Envy or the Homunculi-"

"Wait WHAT! A HOMUNCULUS? Isn't that supposed to be some sort of urban legend among Alchemists!" Oh no… I forgot, Mr Kriegler doesn't know about any of this. Tia's managed to stay calm, but she's never seen a Homunculus or what it can do. Mr. Kriegler watched one kill a person.

"Private Kriegler, I'm going to need you to calm down-"

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? My friend was murdered in cold blood right in front of me by a monster and two other soldiers were killed! You're talking about myths like they're real! And two mysterious prisoners that did who knows WHAT on that train! I've gone through many missions and avoided asking questions, but those were hardly as crazy as this! I want answers to what's going on, and I want them NOW!" He points at all of us, breathing heavily, and everyone looks shocked by his outburst… and so am I. He was always so meek and quiet, I would never think he would lash out as us,

"Alright," Riza says annoyed,

"R-r-r-r-really?" There he goes, back to his quiet self.

"Yes, but brace yourself, because I'm not going to hold anything back. Can I trust you not to let anything you hear leak this room?"

Kriegler hesitates for a moment, thinking, and salutes, saying, "O-on my f-f-father's g-grave SIR!"

* * *

As I said, I did it. I told Kriegler everything. Every little tidbit of information is now known to him… I don't really have anything to worry about. He's a smart man, he won't let this leak, and who would believe him? The only reason he believes it is because of what he's seen before his eyes.

Kriegler is sitting in a chair, trying to take it all in. He's breathing deeply trying calm down, and after on last deep breathe, he sits up and says,

"Th-thank you C-c-captain…. S-sir!" He says saluting again.

I'm about to continue when my mind wanders to Roy again. I think about the pain he's probably in and the wounds he has, and I feel myself start to tear up again. I clench my fists and blink the tears away, and continue on with the report. Just a little longer, I have to let everyone know!

"Well then, I'll just continue. Tia, as to why I was 'grilling' you earlier, it's due to some important Xingese documents that were stolen,"

"Xingese documents?" Al asks. He looks to May, but she doesn't know either. I guess Ling decided to keep her in the dark,

"They were straight from the Emperor himself. He has been in talks with General Mustang, and sent me and Sheska to pick them up. Sorry to have to lie to you Al," Al nods and says,

"It's alright, they were probably pretty important since Ling himself gave them to you,"

"So what were they about?" Zampano asks, I turn to him saying, "I'm afraid that's on a need to know basis, and I'd rather not worry about anymore possible leaks," I say referring to Tia and Kriegler, not that I mean it. I'll be sure that they stay silent about this.

"Anyway, the documents were inside of the large black brief case we had inside of a folder I checked with all three of them, and from what they say, the only person who ever had a minute to be alone with the suitcase was Tia," Al stands out of his chair and says,

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, you can't be serious! Tia would never do anything like that! Right May?" May nods and says,

"No way, if there's anything she's guilty of it's not theft or even trying to do that! (In the traditional sense!)"

"What?" Al asks,

"Nothing!" I move on saying,

"However, taking Tia's story into account, I think I can safely assume who the real culprit is." Everyone looks at me, expecting an answer, "The person who both attacked Tia and can transform into anything, Envy the Jealous. This is the first piece of evidence I have, which replaced the original documents that were in the folder," I hold up a sloppily drawn picture of Envy with his tongue sticking out as us, and promptly put it away. This is one of the only times I wish I wasn't so thorough

"So ya'll think that bastard did it?" Tia says,

"Yes, and I think I'll start from the end with this. Envy, after attacking Tia, copied her appearance and accent, possibly getting an idea of how she talks, and brought the food to the inn we were staying at to steal the documents. Our names were on the tray, and he remembered Colonel Mustang, meaning it most likely knew the rest of us by name which he noticed on the tray. Plus, there's only one inn in the town. And I think this confirms one other thing."

"What's that Lieutenant?"

"Fawful's intentions. It doesn't do us much good now, but it seems that they were pretty desperate to get their hands on those documents considering the trouble that they went through. Not to mention how far they went to retrieve their agents." Everyone in the room looks pretty discouraged by this. In the end, , both of our prisoners were freed, and we still know little to nothing, plus we lost some documents,

"Sheska, you know what you need to do right? Get started, we're going to need to leave tomorrow," Sheska perks up and salutes saying,

"Yessir!" and promptly runs out,

"What does she need to do?"

"General Mustang was worried about the documents getting stolen, and decided he should find a way to make copies. He couldn't photograph them, but he could have someone with a photographic memory memorize them, and remake them if needed" I say, proud of my superiors intelligence.

Al looks awed as does Zampano, Jerso, May, and Kriegler, who managed to catch on to Sheska's special skill.

"As I said, we need to be heading back to Central tomorrow, bright and early."

"Wait, what!" Tia screams, "Dya' have a screw loose 'er somethin'? I am _not_ 'llowin' mah' patients to go out in they're condition! They need proper medical care, and I'm not even that good. We need the towns Doc to examine these two, he'll be back tomorrow."

"Perfect. I'll need you to come with us."

"…Huh?"

"I need a doctor to look after those two while we're going home and tend to any complications."

"No way! I ain't leavin' mah' home!"

"Well, we can't allow you to stay You've heard classified information, and therefore will need to be brought back to Central so we can see if you're a liability and might tell people what you hear,"

"Grrrr! You dirty lil'…!" Everyone gives me an angry look and I sigh,

"It's just until we get to Central. We'll even pay you for each day you're away the salary our doctors get."

Tia rolls out of the operating room on a swivel chair saying, "Hold the phone! Those doc's that live in huge buildin's with them there ritzy life styles? Hell, if I'm getting' paid that, I might have to stay longer!"

"I'm glad you think so… by the way, how's Roy… I mean, General Mustang," Tia smirks and says,

"He's good, though we'll probly' have to carry him onto the train later on. Also, I'll just need some time to say g'bye, that awright?" She rolls back into the room to continue her work,

"Of course," I say nodding,

I look at everyone else saying, "Alright, everyone get to bed, we have a long day tomorrow,"

As I walk out of the room, Al says, "I'll head to bed in a minute… I… I just need to make a quick phone call."

I nod to him and run back to my room, shutting the door. After holding back my tears for so long, it feels strange to cry again.

We will find out what's going on, I stake my life on it!

* * *

"Grrr… Alice, what was that!" I say, looking at Alice. She's always been troublesome, one of the most disobedient of our group. I'm lucky that we're able to 'convince' her to work with us, she's better to have as an ally than as an enemy.

She actually did an excellent job on the mission, but I can't have her giving away information like that all the time, she might reveal something sensitive!

Seven of our Members are gathered in the monitor room with us.

Fawful, Plat, Greeverce, Yondelo, an injured Karlin, and Envy.

Not counting me, there's about six people who can actually fight against someone from those worlds… dammit, I hope He knows what he's talking about. He mentioned gathering more members, but he failed to mention exactly how.

"Tell me, what is the problem with what I said?" Alice says, annoyed at me,

"I don't want you doing that kind of thing all the time! People could get an idea of how we're doing what we're doing! It's unlikely, but perfectly possible! Why did you do that anyway?"

"I have no reason to tell you."

"…It' because of your sibing, isn't it? More specifically your sister," Alice looks at me, but just walks out of the room, "Hey! Come back here!" As the door slides open, she turns around and says,

"As soon as you have something worth saying. Also, for anyone interested, there'll be a tea party going on in my room, and you'll be welcomed to join me and my guest," She leaves, and Greeverce giggles, saying,

"Hehehe, I guess her friend isn't going to be all that real, aye boss?" I groan and turn on the monitor, with His face staring down at us.

"Ahh, it's good to see you again. Tell me, how have things been going in the second operation… Xozré?" He says to me, with everyone else staring at the man veiled in darkness,

"Well, other than a few surprises, everything seems to have gone as planned… and you're sure about this? Amestris and Xing's relationship has been pretty stable as of late, and there's no way Amestris would want to start a war after what the country just went through, it's be suicide,"

He stares back mat me saying, "Yes it would," Sinisterly,

"Erm… well, anyway, what next? We need more Members, it's just a few of us here. We won't be capable of doing much of anything, and I believe we lucked out in this case."

"Oh, didn't I tell you? We aren't going to be operating in Amestris for a while,"

"What!" Greeverce shouts, "Come on! You can't keep me from killing that bitch Hawkeye! I wanna go back now!"

"Well you're not. You and everyone else are going to stay here for a while and continue training with several other recruits I have… sans Yondelo that is."

"And why Yondelo?" Karlin asks,

"Simple, he has unique skills that are necessary for this to work. As for why you won't be returning to Amestris, we just need to let things run their course. Any questions?" I pipe up saying,

"And how many people are going to… wait, is this the place with that person we already planted in it?"

"Indeed. As for who we'll be sending, it's one of our newest Members."

"And?" I ask, confused,

"And nothing. That's all we're sending."

"Oh… r-really?"

"Yep. That it?"

"There is a query that needs answers to match and make a set!" Fawful says, "If you had to pick a number of places in need of our visits, what would it's amount be?"

"Hard to say… I honestly don't know. Though I have plenty of ideas as to how we'll be able to gather enough strength to eventually take down a world… And Xozré-"

"You don't have to keep reminding me, I know. Watch for hazards and heroes that may deter us. Don't worry, the Path of Darkness will be complete,"

"Perfect. Yondelo!"

"Yes sir?"

"Head to the portal generator, and enter the following code. And on your way, deliver this to the person next in line to use it. He should be there waiting, and ready for his missions," A flat, square box appears out of a mist of darkness

"Understood." Yondelo walks away, and leaves the rest of us alone,

"Well, that's about it. I'll just let you guys get to training. Goodb-" Suddenly, the monitor shuts itself off. I look at the controls to see if something is wrong, but… it switched off without getting touched. Weird.

"Well, you guys get to training in a few minutes. And don't forget to include Alice The new guys should be at the center already, I'll meet you there."

Everyone leaves, and I take a moment to think about what I'm doing… I'm almost never sure about anything, I'm constantly wondering if I'm doing what's wrong. But I know one thing for sure. I've started this, and there's no way that I can stop it now.

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**I hope everything made sense, let me know what you that about it! Read and review! Also, the scientists name Xozré is pronounced Sho-ze-ray.**


	16. Voice

**And, here it is! The next chapter! For those unfamiliar with the world, it's from the anime Code Geass, (to those who haven't seen it and want to avoid spoilers) **

* * *

"One year. It's been a whole year ever since it all ended… Lelouch." I say, staring at his picture. It's from our days in school, back when I just considered him an arrogant Britannian, just like all the others.

Lelouch vi Britannia, former prince of Britannia, the tyrannical royal nation that had once nearly taken over the world. I probably know more about him than anyone else, second only to Nunnally.

After Lelouch had died, the world had become peaceful, one of his many accurate predictions. Nations had broken into new ones, treaties had been formed for independence, with a few disputes but nothing serious, and crime had gone down to an all time low.

I look at the key that I had been given when I became a member of the Black Knights, the rebel group that Lelouch had formed. It was once used as a key to pilot the Guren, which had evolved into the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N.

Sometimes I think it's a shame that there's no use for it, but then I realize that's because no battles need to be fought.

I walk out of my room, greeting my mother on the way out the door, so happy that she's able to enjoy a real life.

I've been living my life as one of the students at the school I attended, and I'm trying to catch up on the schoolwork I missed. I'm almost finished, and soon I'll be a graduate, finally done with school, and free to pursue a career in whatever I want.

Since it's the weekend, I guess I'll just go for a walk and see if there's anything to do. Maybe I can go somewhere interesting in the city, who knows?

I'd be able to just enjoy it without issue, if I hadn't heard something two teens were talking about,

"Hey, did you hear about the terrorist attacks going on? I heard they attacked another storage facility."

"Again? Damn, what is with this pointless violence, people are getting caught up in their stupidity, a lot of bystanders actually."

Terrorists. Man, I remember when I was branded that back before Lelouch became Zero and formed the Black Knights. Wanton destruction, hurting anyone we could that fought us, desperately trying to screw up the Britannians in any way we can. I guess I deserved the title, but I know I was better then these terrorists. Not by much, but I actually had something worth fighting for.

The new terrorists are a group of Britannians in Japan that have been stirring things up. They've basically been destroying a lot of random locations, mainly warehouses, and using explosives to harm civilians, and draw out local police to attack them and prove they're better.

These people claim to fight in the name of reviving The Holy Empire of Britannia. Please, as if that would succeed. Maybe I'm biased, but anyone who sees Britannia as a shining pillar of purity and righteousness is either blinded by devotion, or hoping to become new royal blood. Hell, I bet some old blood is causing this mess just to reclaim their power and title.

Either way, they aren't a mindless mob of terrorists… more like an organized one. They're attacks are well coordinated, and planned. They always seem to have a low casualty rate, and when one was captured… he killed himself to avoid interrogation. Even Knightmare's are having trouble dealing with them, and the Britannians haven't even used one of their own, if they have any.

I'm sure that they'll scatter after a few weeks… but I'm happy to get involved if I need to, and to be honest, I _really_ want to. The only reason I haven't done anything yet is because the situation hasn't gotten too out of hand, but at the rate they're going now, I doubt I'll have to wait much longer.

My stroll through the city seems peaceful enough, but someone bumps into me and I stagger back,

"Hey, watch it!" I shout angrily,

I'm ignored by the person, who just keeps walking, while holding a map in his face, mumbling, "Okay, am I supposed to go to my left… or maybe it's my right, I'm not sure… maybe it's neither…" I grab him by the collar and pull him back,

"Hello!" I tell him. He looks like he's around my age, a thin guy with greyish blond hair and a pair of sunglasses on his face, a Britannian by the looks of it.

"Oh, hi there," He says, putting the map back in front of his face, "can I help you with some-" I snatch the map out of his hand, "Hey! What's your damage?" He says,

"I'm the one who should be saying that to you. You bumped into me and you just ignore me when I talk to you."

"I did? Are you sure you're not imagining things?"

"No, I'm not!" He turns away, trying to leave,

"Listen, I really don't have time for this, I'm lost and I really need to be somewhere, so I was kind of distracted!" He leaves, but I decided to follow him, curious about his whereabouts,

"Where do you need to be in such a hurry?" I ask,

"Do you know about that museum? The one in the tall tower? I'm supposed to meet my nephew there, but I can't read this map, so unless you can help me, I need to be going. He's getting dropped off by his parents, and he's pretty young, I don't want anything happening to him,"

"I can take you there if you'd like."

"You can? Why would you do that? You were just yelling at me for bumping into you."

"It's fine, it takes more than that to get on my nerves. Besides, I really don't have anything better to do anyway." And it wouldn't hurt to relive some old memories,

"Oh… thanks, I guess. I should be introducing myself, my name is Webb Araneae."

I nod telling him, "Nice to meet you, my name is Kallen Kozuki."

"…Kallen Kozuki. That's what you said, right? I want to be sure." He says, looking kind of serious. I was pretty famous for a time,

"Yep, Kallen of the Black Knights. That's me… you're not nursing an old grudge over what happened to Britannia, are you?" Webb's face softens, and he says,

"Hardly. I know the facts about it. From what I've heard from my friends and family, he manipulated you guys into working for him, until you got wise to what he did. Did something along those lines happen?" I look to the ground, pausing for a while before answering. Every day I need to lie about Lelouch, and what he did. Paint a terrible picture of him, lying about what happened. I need to do this to ensure that the peace Lelouch dreamed of is maintained, but it's so hard to do since I … I… I lo…

"Kallen?" I'm pulled out of my thoughts and hastily say,

"Yeah, that's exactly what happened. Look, could we move on. You're a Britannian, right? If you're going to yell at me for what I did… it was my own choice. It was for my country, nothing more, nothing less."

"…I am crossed about all that happened, but I don't think there's a point getting upset over it. What's done is done, and in the end, everything worked out perfectly. It's a peaceful world out there, with one of the most destructive figures gone, thanks to Zero. He's even working with Empress Nunally to lead Britannia… if he hadn't stepped in, things would have stayed as they were…"

Suzaku. Nunally told me about what he had done… to Lelouch. He didn't even bother to face me… or maybe he didn't feel right telling me that he killed his own best friend. I can't imagine the pain he was in, or even still feels.

"I'm glad to hear that. I can't count the number of stuck up Britannians that still think they're at the top of the world and berate me for rebelling. About 42."

"I thought you couldn't keep count?"

"Oh, I was counting the number of people I've hit. Mainly those that pushed me over the edge,"

"Doesn't sound like much of a challenge…" Webb mumbles,

The two of us talk for a while as we continue on our way to the museum. Webb continues to hold the map in front of him, still bumping into people no matter how many times I tell him to put it away.

He's pretty strange, but I suppose he's good company. I guess I'll bring him to his nephew, then see where the day takes me.

* * *

"So, what is your opinion on these insurgent's Empress Nunally," I say to the leader of Britannia, as we speak alone in the throne room. I had to request that Schneizel leave us, and the guards as well. They all have a hint of doubt about where Zero's loyalty truly lies.

The two of us are in an elegantly decorate room, everything in it, even the floor I'm standing on, being made of the highest quality product. Nunally sits in the throne decorated with gold, and ornate design. As long as Britannia keeps going in it's current direction, it won't actually be redecorated unless there's a practical need for it.

She stares at me sternly, but smiles gently, saying, "You don't need to be so formal when the two of us are alone, and you can remove your mask,"

I look to the ground shamefully, recalling her tears of sadness as the rest of the world cheered at her brother's death, "I don't think I have that right…" I look back up to see Nunally's pleading eyes, "But if that is what you wish," I remove the obsidian mask, and pull the black cloth over my mouth down.

"Thank you Suzaku." I nod, but I can't return the smile she's giving me. I'm the one who ended Lelouch's life. I'm his killer, his assassin, the one person she should hate more than anything… but such a thing simply can't exist in Nunally's gentle heart.

"What did you need to speak with me about?"

Nunally becomes serious yet again, and says, "Of course. You recall the list of incidents that have been caused due to them? Including the more recent event of a captured Britannian terrorist killing himself… with bludgeoning." She looks pained just from recalling what happened. The prisoner had banged his head into the wall so many times that he broke his own skull. He was either terrified of being in jail, or dedicated to his cause.

"Yes, I don't believe that they're an ordinary group. They have top quality equipment, including armor, but their numbers are small. It's been estimated that there were originally thirty people _at most_. Five dead bodies have been accounted for, including the recent suicide victim." Nunally nods,

"Correct. I believe that they're intention is to cause mass mayhem by trying to recruit other Britannian's unsatisfied with their home country's current position in the world. However, I've come to believe otherwise."

Otherwise? It all seems pretty straightforward to me, the only noticeable things about this group are how organized they are and they're funding, which could come from anyone with enough money. They haven't even been shown to have Knightmare's, they're a baseless group that only wants to be back at the top by any means.

"What would that be?"

Nunally hits a button on her throne, and a hologram appears in the air, with a text box opening up alongside a digital voice measuring device.

"I received a message that was put through a unique type of voice distortion device."

"Unique?"

"Unique in that we aren't able to find a way to remove the distortion and hear the real voice of whoever made this. Our scientists have proposed that someone has secretly come up with a new technology for this, but it's merely speculation. Moving on, I'd like you to hear what this message says, but I'd like to address one thing." Nunally says to me, staring intently, "Despite how real the voice sounds Suzaku, remember that it is too big a coincidence for the speaker to happen to have it." She presses another button on her throne, and the message plays, extremely distorted, with the words typed into the textbox automatically.

"Hello, Empress Nunally. Since you're listening to this, that means that you've finished your futile attempt to find out where this message came from,"

The voice playing in this video… it sends me back in time. Back to days before Japan had been overrun by Britannia. Back to when I was able to enjoy a high school life like a normal person. Back to when I still had the right to show my face to the people, a right to live life as "Suzaku Kururugi." I look at Nunally as she stares at the screen, emotionless, but I see her hands shaking from the message... close to anger even.

As for me, I can't count the number of emotions the voice gives me. Happiness, sadness, misery, shock, fear, and many others from the memories it draws out. However, most of all I can feel a white hot anger burning up inside me from the way His voice is being used right now.

"I know who you are, so it's only fair you know the same about me. Call me Homunculus. I am currently in control of the Pure Britannians, the Britannian 'terrorists' as you call them. I thought that it would be fair to at least give you a fighting chance, so I am telling you of our current activities. Today, on the anniversary of Britannia's fall as a world superpower, we will achieve the means to take back our country. There are no more hiding places, and your actions will not interfere with our plot. However, what you do is your choice… but I can't be held responsible for who dies or lives. I wish you luck in attempting to stop us."

"What the… Homonculus?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand who this person is either. All that I know is that he's leading the terrorists in Japan and that he is incredibly ruthless and intelligent. At every location they've struck, they've eliminated all employees working there and any civilians without discretion, showing expertise in securing escape routes and even going against local forces."

I turn to Nunally, "Do they have an actual goal, or is this just random?"

"I've thought carefully over the message I was sent and what was meant by it. Today is when I, as Empress, granted sovereignty to all of the countries Britannia took control of, dealing a blow to our economy. I also ordered the dismantling of a large percentage of our weaponry and Knightmares, leaving just enough for the country to defend itself if the need arises. In a way, Britannia did lose its place as a superpower. As to whether or not they have a goal, let me show you a list of the 47 locations that have been attacked by the 'Pure Britannians' as they call themselves,"

Another image replaces the first and a list naming and showing the locations is shown. I stare at the screen, trying to understand the meaning of it, but then I notice a pattern, and I almost feel my heart stop!

"Empress Nunally!" I kneel before her, "I need to request that I be sent to Japan immediately! The experimental transports should allow me to arrive in a matter of hours!"

"Of course Suzaku, I was prepared to allow you to leave." She says, "will send a message to the local and special forces in Japan to prepare for this, and aid you. I fear that this proclamation wouldn't be made without some military strength behind it."

"Thank you, my lady." I dawn my mask and leave the room, turning around,

"Suzaku." I stop and wait to hear what Nunally has to say. "Do not act rash. Remember, to the rest of the world , you are the Man of Miracles Zero," I turn around to see her standing on her two feet, walking towards me. To this day, I can't describe how happy I am to see the frail young girl I used to know standing so strong on her own. "Also, the world has recently recovered after the threat of global annihilation, so sending large forces could cause the public to think that something else might be going on. I won't jeopardize Britannia's new relations with the rest of the world, but after speaking with President Kaguya, she insisted that I only send the number of forces that are completely necessary."

"Of course. I won't fail to bring them to justice and have them pay for what they've done. I won't let anyone threaten what Le…" I stop, for Nunally's sake, but she's noticed and doesn't seem to mind,

"Yes, my big brother, Lelouch, gave his life for this world. The least we can do is keep it safe." Nunally's eyes start tearing, but she wipe them away, "Just promise me Suzaku," Nunally suddenly hugs me, holding on tightly, "Promise me you'll come back to me. I already lost Lelouch, I can't risk losing you too,"

Still wearing my mask, I tell her "I promise I'll come back to you Nunally." I hug her back, and quickly walk out of the room. I hate to be rude, especially to my Empress and friend, but I need to get to Japan! Those false Britannian fools there have no idea what they're doing, or how many lives they could take for their pointless cause! I also fear that if I stay any longer, my hatred will boil over in front of Nunally,

"Those people will pay," I mumble to myself, hiding my anger under my mask, "How dare they even think of using my best friends voice!"

* * *

******I hope you liked it, it's my first time writing this. Let me know how I can improve with my characters, I want to remain accurate! Read and Review!**


	17. Prepared

**Next chapter :) I'd really appreciate some extra feedback with this. Let me know is this chapter's come together well or not, okay? Thanks!**

* * *

"Can you believe what they're doing? After the world could have ended?"

"They're just idiots, they'll be stomped out in no time."

"Wh-what's the Empress of Britannia gonna do about them? They're her people, they should be her problem!"

"Maybe they'll succeed, maybe not. Gotta admit though, the term, 'Japan' just leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"No No! W-we'll be safe! Everything is just going to pass over. Everyone's going to be fine... the terrorists will be executed and life will go on. It just has to... right?"

After being around for so long, and being separated from so many differences, you'd think people were all drastically different. Not in things like obvious cultures, but more along the lines of behavioral attitude.

Cultural differences are mainly formed by the way things are done by that group of people in an area, and what they've always done. That, along with what they're had to use for things like food shelter.

People, however, have the same pattern. For one thing, they tend to look up to a higher power to guide them. Some people prefer to believe in a God of their choosing, others prefer to believe in people, things that are right in front of them. Every now and again, you get the odd person who sees himself as a higher power, though individuals doing things like that tend to have dark history during their rules.

Among the many standards I've managed to draw from people, this also includes typical gossip. Some big incident happens and everyone starts chattering about it. This normally goes on for a few days, and either the talking dies out, or gets overshadowed by something else.

It's just like throwing a rock into a pond. The rock disturbs the rivers tranquility, causing ripples throughout it that eventually fade away, or get overtaken by ripples formed by new rocks. Sort of like what's been going on now with those Britannians.

They've been stirring up quite a storm as of late. Since the first massacre at an accountant building, I've been watching all of the incidents and seeing all of the dead bodies turning up because of it.

This doesn't involve me, nor does being in Tokyo. All I'm here to do is use this coupon I won and eat my way into Heaven…

…But why did I earn this while I was travelling into Tokyo? I should have just avoided this, these people… don't mean anything to me… right?

…

…

…It seems Lelouch rubbed off on me.

"Excuse me ma'am." I hear a voice from behind me say, with the slightest Britannian accent and silver hair.

I turn around, saying, "Yes?"

"Would you mind if I see your identification?" I look at him and say,

"Actually, yes, I would. I don't have time for needless things like that, I need to get going, there is an important business establishment that needs my attention." I try walking in the direction that I was going, but I'm blocked,

"Are you sure about that? Even for the police?" He pulls out a police badge on a chain necklace from his white collared dress shirt,

"Yes, positive." I continue to walk by him, leaving him surprised for a minute and standing still, until he runs into my way again,

"No, no, no! That wasn't optional! Show me your ID now!"

"Why? I'm not doing anything wrong. You're getting in my way and wasting my time. Out with it, what do you want?"

"You…! Why are you so annoyed when I'm being ignor-"

"Well, I suppose it can't be that important if you're not going to tell me, so, I'll be on my way."

"Wait! No! Just please cooperate! I need to do random card checks today!" So that's why he's petering me. Probably trying to identify fake ID's used by the terrorists. I suppose I should give it to him… after one thing.

"…Pretty please with sugar on top."

"Huh?"

"I want you to say it. Say, 'Pretty please with sugar on top, show me your ID,'"

"I will not-" As soon as I turn about face, he changes his mind, "Okay, okay! Pretty please with sugar on top may I see your ID!" He says it loudly enough to earn quite a few stares. I watch as his loss of his pride causes him to collapse to the ground,

"…You are truly an evil woman…"

"Perhaps," I take my identification that I've been using to get around. It's a recently implemented system that was being worked after the rebellion. It can be linked to a bank account, or credit account of anyone's choosing, and be used as a register for entering a city. Cards are scanned into a large system, so if someone hasn't entered a city with an actual ID, the police will know.

He slowly rises from the ground, scanning my ID in a melancholic manner. His expression changes slightly to confusion when he reads the name on it.

"Your name's CC? Is that it?" This card was from a certain royal acquaintance of mine, so it's a bit special.

"No, I just prefer to keep to myself that's why it's like this."

"You wanted your name to be recognized legally to everyone who knows you as 'CC'?"

"Yes, I prefer it. Now, if you'd give me my card back, I'll be going. There's a grand opening at an all you can eat pizza buffet that I need to get to." The coupon I happened to win when I played in a raffle on a whim allows me as much free pizza as I want an hour before they're grand opening. Perhaps it was an act of the Gods, or just fate being kind to me for once, but this is one opportunity that I would never forgive myself to let pass.

"Erm… okay then," He gives me back my card and wanders away, and wanders away, but stops to answer a cell phone call,

"Hello? …Yeah, I know, I… okay… yes, he's there now… I'll take you right now, just wait, I'll be there in a second. Eran out."

Looks like he has business with a fellow Officer. I had better get to my business with my pizza.

I join the flow of the sea of people again, and continue to head towards the building, looking around warily. I suppose the training I went through to defend myself during the Black Rebellion is keeping me aware of my surrounding. The attacks have never been pinpointed, so for all I know, a grenade could be thrown right at my feet. I wouldn't mind, but if anyone else were to get hurt I-

...I guess I just would hate for that to happen.

I shouldn't think about that. I should just focus on enjoying myself.

I walk through the town, and enjoying the serenity, ignoring the hidden tension in some of the crowd members, trying to just let go of my worries.

I'm looking out at the street when I pass an alleyway that's very strange.

What's strange isn't the alleyway itself, but who's inside it I feel a surge of fear radiate through my body when it happens. A shock, worse than being struck by lightning. More like suddenly having your blood frozen and pumped back into your body.

A quick flash of memories run through my head as I clench my forehead. It feels like the sigil on my forehead is starting to burn! I look back to when I had first lost my Geass and became an Immortal Witch. I remember the day one of the men who once constantly showered me with gifts had thrust a sword through my neck. The fear I felt just when the cinders from a torch lit the bottom of the stake I was tied to. The anguish I felt when over a hundred needles pressed into my body when I was trapped inside of an iron maiden.

This feeling… it's different… it's as if the power itself that has kept me alive all these years is rejecting something… and I am feeling someone very terrifying looking at me right now.

I look to see a figure in the darkness, but I can't see anything else. And I keep getting pushed as the figure moves deeper into the alley.

"Wait! Stop!" I force myself away from all of the people and run to the alley. Whoever this is, he made me feel more fear then I've ever felt before. But if there's one thing I'm not afraid of, it's what will be done to me if I'm captured. I'm not scared of dying or anything else. All of that is beyond me.

I look into the alley to see who is inside of it, but all I see in an alleyway. No people, just a dead end without hiding places. Walking into it causes the sunlight to disappear and I feel the air around me get cooler. I look around at the walls here to see if there are any side doors from the buildings, but I don't see any. And there are no signs of any secret entrances, but they wouldn't be very secret if anyone could see them.

I'm sure someone was here, just for a minute, and I know that person is still here. The burning from my forehead hasn't gone away, it's only intensified as I went deeper into the alley.

"Where are you…?" The burning increases, and by the time I'm at the end of the alley, the heat is nearly unbearable, and I think my sigil might be glowing.

I'm at a dead end in an alleyway between two black buildings... what is going on? I know someone is here, I can feel it…

I tap onto the wall a few times, but I can't tell for sure if it's hollow,

"Hello? Is someone in there?" If there is a response, I don't hear it. I'm distracted by the blow from the back of my head. Someone hit me from behind… hard…

…hard enough… to knock me out…

"…wasn't… like this… punishment…"

"But she… her own… can't… what she… where…"

Dammit, I'm blacking out. I don't know what's going on, all I know is that I was sure I was the only person in this alley that somehow disappeared. Now I know there are about two people staring at my unconscious body…

* * *

"The museum's looking nice, isn't it?" I say to Webb,

"I suppose," He says, staring up at it.

Both of us have arrived and are entering the museum, after waiting five minutes in line behind other people, using our cards to sign in and pay the fee. I scan the area for a moment, but I don't see any young kids. I turn to Webb, who seems to keep staying right behind me.

"Webb, can you call your nephew for me, I don't see him. And put the dammed map down!" I knock it out of his hands, and he looks taken aback,

"Alright, alright! Jeez! I'll focus on looking for my nephew, I'd just like to see if the map can help me remember where I need to bring him after this."

"Just call him. Then finding him should be easy."

"Sure, no prob." He pulls out a cell phone, and scrolls down his speed dial list, going down to a name that he dials.

'Jason,' it says,

"Hello? Yes, it's me… I know, you don't need to worry about safety, where do I need to find you? …top floor? Okay, see you then."

"So, we're meeting Jason on the top floor?"

"Huh?" He looks confused,

"Jason, that's his name, right? It said so on your speed dial."

"Oh! Each, sorry, I'm just a bit lost in thought… I've been like that for a while, you know…"

"What do you mean?" I have an idea of what could be on his mind though,

"Let's talk about it on the way up to the top floor. Do you know where the stairs are?"

"Yeah, over there by the sign that says stairs, didn't you- wait, why aren't we using the elevator?"

"It's out of order."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," He says with a smile that I just can't help but want to smack off his face,

"Come on, let's go." I say sighing, and quickly walk off,

I pull the door open as soon as I reach it, turning back to see if Webb's spaced out,

"Kallen? Where'd you go?" Apparently he did, right after I started walking to the stairs,

"I'm over here, genius! Pay attention!" I shout, angrily,

I've been trying to keep my temper in check, but there are just some people that push me over the edge,

"So, ready to go?" Webb says as soon as he reaches me,

_I was ready as soon as I started walking away from you!_

I think, but I just shove the door open, and we quietly begin walking up.

Both of us are quiet for a bit, and I can't help but sense the awkwardness in the air. There's definitely something bothering him.

"So… why did you decide to come to the museum with your nephew?" I ask,

"Well, no reason really. It was his idea. He's a really bright boy with a taste for older things. Heck, he listens to opera instead of all that auto tuned crap." He stumbles on one of the steps as he keeps walking upwards, "Speaking of choices, are you not busy today or something? I mean, I appreciate the guidance but you don't have any homework to do?" He says, sincerely,

"No Mom, I don't have any homework this weekend. I just need to review some notes from class, which isn't something that'll take long." I say, slightly annoyed. My mother's managed to recover from the refrain with the aid of Britannian medical technology, and she's the only person I don't mind doting on me…

Especially since being with me ensures that the effects don't return. Apparently, even f a person has gone years without taking it, they can relapse into their memories pretty quickly if they're experiencing serious emotional instability like depression. I don't really believe in it, but I can't afford to take the chance. I lost her before, I can't afford to lose her again.

"Hey, I just don't want you making the same mistakes did when I was in High School." He says,

"Do I even want to know what those were?"

"They were centered around my severe case of procrastination. I _always_ waited until the last minute for things like assignments and had to cram everything at the last minute. Including for tests on the next day." He chuckles, "If my brother hadn't helped me, then I doubt I would have passed…" Then he looks down at his feet as he moves up the steps,

He seems sort of sad about his brother, maybe I'll question him a little, "What's your brother like?" I ask, showing sincere curiosity,

"Oh, he was the best. He got good grades and everything, a genius in every right. I was always just dragged behind him for the most part, asking for his help and clinging to him like a parasite whenever I had him helping with something." Webb is still sad, even talking about him,

"Do you think I could meet him?"

"No, he really isn't interested in meeting new people, never has been." I hear a pinging sound coming from Webb's pocket and watch as he reaches into it, "Hold on, I need to get this… come on you…!" As he's struggling to get it out, he succeeds, but accidentally tosses it away. I manage to snatch it out of the air,

"Aw, my cell phone!" I look at Webb who's turning himself around and seems to be looking down the stairs,

"Hey, I got your phone Webb, no worries."

"Kallen, how did you get my phone?"

"I caught it in the air."

"And you're sure you didn't steal it?"

"Wha-no! I just caught it, like I said!"

"Well, how did you get it? I don't recall setting it down anywhere."

"It flew out of your pocket!"

"Hmm… that's some sound logic right there, but I'm not totally convinced. We'll return to this mater later." I really think he's just messing with me, no one could be that dense…

At least I hope not,

"By the way, cold you read the text I got to me?" I nod yes

"Sure," opening up his cellphone, and read what is written out loud.

_"Dear Uncle Webb, _

_How are you doing? I hope you didn't get lost again, that seems to happen a lot. I just wanted to let you know that I decided to go on a small tour before we met up, and it will take about twenty minutes. Would you mind waiting on the top floor until then?_

_Sincerely, S,"_

"S?" I ask,

"It's sort of a code name for him… he likes pretending he's undercover, like a spy. One of his few childish tendencies." Webb says, "Anyway, if you're not doing anything, mind hanging out with me for a while? Just until My nephew comes." As I'm about to answer, I get a text of my own,

"Hold on a second," I look at it and I'm pretty shocked. Not because of the message because it's blank… I'm actually surprised by the sender's name.

"What's up?"

"I-it's nothing… by the way, you never told me your nephew's name."

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot, sorry. Like I sad, I kind of took to his strict undercover code of conduct you know," He rubs the back of his neck nervously,

I don't think you really have to take a kid's wild imagination so seriously.

"So, what's his name?"

"I'll let him introduce himself. He really hates it when people do things for him,"

"Alright…" Though I won't be able to stay long. The text I just got was from Lady Kaguya. It's a special blank text with symbols in the sender's name. A cipher, and it read 'Be prepared'.

The cipher is sent to those of the Special Japanese Defense Forces to be prepared to enter combat at any given moment, meaning that something big is going to happen soon.

* * *

**Hey, sorry if the characters from Code Geass are OOC. If so, let me know what I can do to improve on them. Thanks, again, and read and review!**


	18. Surveillance

**Here's the next chapter for you guys! It's a bit different this time though, let me know what you think in a review :)**

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The huge computer screen in front of me has about a hundred miniature images of the different rooms in this building being recorded, like the other nine monitors surrounding me in this circular room. Beneath the screen are several sets of keyboards with several thousand buttons on them in total meant to control what happens in the areas being watched. Each screen watches over a separate section of the facility I created. It mainly controls all of the security measures I put in here. I'd normally have it set to automatic, but then everyone here in the building would fall victim to the traps and weapons stored in it.

I still can't believe I thought I needed all of this inside of this huge place! I question my sanity when I think back to the sleepless days of having to build this place just to hole myself up in it. I guess my paranoia got the better of me, essentially since the nearest possible threat, the denizens in this dull world, are pretty much harmless… to me anyway, I can't say the same for the Members living here.

I stare down at the buttons in front of my, my legs kicked up, perilously perched on the edge of the keyboard so I don't press anything by accident. This place really can be dangerous, but I'm the only person who knows how everything works here. No instructions to review, and it would take days for a person who hasn't spent time making each device and wiring it to each button to learn everything. One of my few points of pride I have, carrying the title, "Xozr_é, the Button Master"!_

_Self-proclaimed unfortunately, and not the best nickname, but I'll get to take'm where I can… get them… I keep getting these sayings wrong…_

_I sigh loudly despite everything I've been doing. Of course, I've been busily working on a whole lot of nothing. I'm just standing by until I need to play my own part in this insane mission._

_I take my legs off of the keyboard and roll towards it with my chair, pulling out a secondary keyboard under it which is hooked up to each monitor to view a specific room. Thankfully, the security system will let me know if anyone who isn't supposed to be in here somehow gets in, and I'll be able to fix that… ugh, He's rubbing off on me. I shouldn't mind since we're working together but… ugh._

I click on the first screen to observe Alice who's having tea with a Heironymous Q. Wilson, and the two have a casual air around them. It's obvious that's because they know each other, but seriously, how casual can they be in that location? They're sipping Earl Grey in the cell room! Alice even went as far as to arrange the table and tea set from her room, which she carried on it's own, but it doesn't erase the grim atmosphere. Not to mention that there's our other prisoner in there. I know he's bound and gagged and everything, but how can you ignore that?

I briefly switch to another camera to see the old man we've imprisoned is on his own. I guess the other prisoner was put into another cell.

There's something else that can't be ignored.

Alice is smiling. I mean it's a real, sincere smile. Not a wry or mocking one she occasionally puts on when arguing with someone, mainly Envy. This is one of the first times I've seen her so relaxed and happy… all because of that man imprisoned here.

This guy, from what I can tell, is useless. Not that I think he isn't useful to anything, I meant useful to us! He doesn't have any abilities or fighting skills, heck, the closest thing he's had to a weapon is probably a scalpel. I'll need to ask Him why we're keeping him imprisoned.

As I'm about to flip to the next screen, I hear the old door into the room creak open, and see Fawful walking in with a limping Karlin using a crutch to help him along. Alice seems… not upset, but not really happy to see either of them. I think the two of them decided to have tea with Alice after training yesterday. It's nice to see them at least trying to get along, I'll let them enjoy themselves in privacy.

I flip through several other camera feeds before I notice Yondelo sitting in the portal room for some reason… I haven't really been communicating very well with anyone here, but Yondelo completely ignores me most of the time. I only recall our interactions was when he was relaying a message from Him. I'll need to try to get to know everyone here. After all, we all want this to be complete and done, and I'd prefer that we didn't have to just tolerate each other.

I flip through several more video feeds until I see a figure in a robe like Yondelo's punching a wooden dummy held up with a metal stand, concentrating on everything from the waist up. It's Plat, and he seems to be working on some intense training. Each blow tears off a chunk of wood on the dummy, and when he stops, only its lower waist remains, which is automatically thrown off into a large pile of them.

"Alright, stationary opponent fighting is done, next we're doing moving opponent, attacking, and a mix of all four, then back to the beginning! About ten more cycles!" A loud, stern, and serious voice hollers in a gruff tone. Looks like Plat's in the training room with a few other people. Thankfully, there are a bunch of camera's in the room since it's such a particularly big one.

"What!? I've been training for hours Warren, can't you gimme a break!?" I switch over to a screen showing a tall, muscular man wearing a brown leather jacket with a tight black undershirt visible underneath it. He has tight black pants on making his muscles easily seen and he has a black belt on studded with metal. His black hair is slicked back and he's wearing thick black goggles on his face. One of the new guys that He sent over, Warren Kerage. I never got a chance to see him train, he prefers to have privacy, and I respect that. Right now he's just coaching everyone else and operating the training equipment.

He's observing Greeverce as he dodges random projectiles thrown at him. In some cases, they're random objects like rocks or furniture, thrown clumsily. At other times, actual weapons are thrown, like knives or axes. This type of training I meant to keep a person on their when dealing with combat, and it seems to be working.

"Well, why aren't you training!? Huh?" Plat asks accusingly,

"I'll train when I'm alone, it's just a personal thing." He says matter of factly,

I notice him slightly increase the speed of the weapons being thrown at Greeverce, who's practically drenched with sweat. He says that Warren knows a lot about combat, but I hope he knows when someone reaches hi limit, I'm kind of worried about Greeverce- he may have a few screws loose, but I don't wish death on anyone.

"Alright… fine, but why did Estacado get off early? He just did some gun training."

"…" Warren turns off the machinery shooting projectiles at Greeverce from the wall and turns to Plat, patient but clearly annoyed. He walks up to him slowly, and Plat shrinks when he is standing over him, obviously intimidated.

"Jackie Estacado has reasons similar to mine, in that he prefers to work alone, and that is his choice. I'll be checking the camera recordings to be sure that he trains properly," He looks up to the camera, as if he knows I'm watching, then back down to Plat, "If there are any more questions, ask them now, otherwise, finish what I told you to do, then you can go about doing whatever you want. So, any questions?"

Plat doesn't saying anything, thinking carefully about his answer, "Well?" Warren says, Plat jumps a bit and goes into an attention stance, saying,

"No sir! I'll finish up right away!" and he skitters off to attack more wooden dummies,

I change the camera as Warren dismisses Greeverce from the room. He's _really_ tough on people, but by the looks of it, he seems to be… enthusiastic about training.

I flip over to the kitchen with three more new members that were sent over by Him. At the moment, one of them is stuffing his face in the fridge while the other two are waiting at the table, a very fat one at that.

"Come on, hurry it up Gluttony, we're hungry here! Right Ace!?" A girl slams her hand onto the table indignantly. She's a slim girl, fair skinned, wearing a gothic looking outfit. Her long sleeved shirt has a thin white stripe going down the center and spreading out to look like ribs, and a segmented line meant to look like ribs, and her dress goes down to her knees with white frills at the end. It's that annoying girl Vee. How did she qualify for this anyway? Seriously, she's fourteen years old!

"Right! Now bring me some some food!" She says, as if her associate actually said anything.

The dark-skinned man called Ace barely shifts in his seat. He barely moves at all. He's a tall man, thin but with lean muscles, wearing a dark green jacket and sweatpants. He's also bald and has odd eyes, with large white orbs covering his iris and everything else, while everything normally surrounding the iris is black.

His eyes seem… really empty, which reflects his personality. The guy never does anything. When he does, it's only because someone orders him to. Otherwise he's just sitting around, usually upright in the fetal position. It's weird.

"Sorry!" Gluttony carries a ton of food in his arms and brings them over to the table, dropping them onto there in a big pile.

"It's about damn time!" Vee snatches two apples from the pile and tosses one to Ace, which hits his head and rolls onto the floor, "Go on, eat, I know you don't care if it's been on the floor," She says, as she viciously starts devouring her prey. Gluttony follows suit, only eating ay more than her with each bite. As Ace lurches off to pick up his apple, I take a look at Gluttony, watching him carefully as he devours his meal. When I see his tongue and the mark on it, I know what He said is definitely true.

Gluttony's a homunculus, just like Envy.

How is this possible, the Homunculi were supposed to have all died off in Amestris. Heck, forget the homunculi, what about all of these other guys? And he keeps talking about 'Getting more Members, Subordinates, _and_ Associates,'

How does he convince these people? I don't even know his recruitment process or what singles out those who are qualified to those who aren't,

I flip the screen to Envy's room and see it transformed into Alice, mocking her in front of a mirror,

"Oh, so you're a homunculus, an immortal creature with the power to become anything? I'm a pale witch whose parents and sister let themselves die off, basically abandoning me to a mental Hell. I'm obviously _better than you!_" Envy smashes the mirror with its fist after the last few words were uttered, and I shake my head. What is with this person?

I zoom out from the screen so that it turns back to its multi-screened image and I hang my head back in my chair,

Man, this is so boring! I can't believe I've been ordered to wait on standby until I get a signal from our contact in that 'Japan' place! I don't even know the guy… or girl's name! I shouldn't assume it's a guy, because when you assume you make "me" and "u" and "Ass"… or something.

Anyway, I'm getting some instruction on what I'll need to do a bit later, all I know is that it'll be on the contact, or whoever we sent into that worlds, call.

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

I hear a ringing going off, and realize that I'm being called by someone. I hit another button on the secondary keyboard to see who it is.

"Hello?"

"…I have a message for you Xozré." Yondelo? Well, I guess I've got some orders from Him, so I guess I should listen carefully. But…

"Hey Yondelo, how's it going? I didn't see you working out, earlier, how did it go?" The only thing I hear from the other end is silence. Well, I at least had to try talking with him,

"The Master wanted you to know about the prisoner, if you haven't realized it already."

"The prisoner?" I say confused, "Dr. Wilson is safe and secure, with three of our Members watching him," 'and enjoying a good spot of tea,' I think, but I leave that out.

"Not him. The other prisoner." Yondelo says, all business, no playtime as usual.

…wait… the other prisoner… I switch back to the video feed of Alice and the other three drinking tea and look into Dr. Wilson's cell… the one that he's alone in…

The only cell in that room.

"Yondelo," I say seemingly calm, but in shock, "Do you know where the prisoner went?"

"Yes, I brought him to the portal room and sent him to 'Japan'."

"Yondelo… why? Why the _Hell_ would you do that!?" Yondelo responds emotionlessly,

"Because I was ordered to by The Master to send him with that prototype you've been working on in maintenance. He said to tell you it was done, because 'it would be more interesting then'. That's all I have to say to you, dismissed."

"No, wai-" I hear a beep, and the phone goes off, "Yondelo!"

I come close to slamming my fists onto the keyboard and stop at the last second, just when I think I'm going to.

Why? Why would he make things so much more complicated! Not only do we have a dangerous man who will no doubt get in our way, but we need to instigate what is basically an all-out war with Japan's military forces!

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**Note: I do not own Jackie Estacado or Dr. Wilson.**


	19. The Weapon

**Well, here's the next part, I hope you guys like it! **

**By the way, the second part is in the third-person point-of-view.**

**Merry Christmas!**

* * *

After a scant few hours on Lloyd's latest transport, I landed in Japan as both an Ambassador for Nunally and a warrior meant to aid Japan in fighting these Pure Britannians. It wasn't properly tested, but Lloyd was kind enough to give me the "honor" of running its latest trial to get me here.

After landing, I was escorted into a limousine to meet with President Kaguya to speak with her about the matter at hand. As I'm travelling, I take a look around at the city… at least, what's still left. My heart sinks when I think about the crater left in the battle for Tokyo… the one that I created.

According to Nunally, who knows the whole truth about me, Lelouch's Geass command forcing me to "live" no matter what, says that I need to stop regretting what I did and move on. She's right, but I know it's hard for her to mean it. She is the purest person that I have ever known, and while she is intelligent like her brother, she simply can't be as cold and detached as him. I've tried my best to listen to what she has told me but… I'll never be able to forgive myself for the damage I've caused.

As we arrive at President Kaguya's office (I should start calling her Prime Minister, President is just something that I somehow got used to saying) I am escorted up to her office. I notice the extra security around her office,

_Is she worried about them attacking her? She already had extensive security because of all the death threats she got from Britannians opposing her appointment… it's telling about how dangerous the Pure Britannians are._

I step into the office, and listen as the door is shut behind me, with multiple locks clicking, making me aware of the room's security. I look around, and notice that this isn't her normal office, but a windowless bunker used for her protection. At the moment, the only ones in here are myself and Prime Minister Kaguya herself. Despite the ongoing situation, she's still hard at work with her duties, filling out papers and doing her work from a computer in the room. When she sees me, she stops what she's doing immediately and says, "Oh…! I'm sorry, I didn't expect to see you so soon Zero," she says, happy yet confused.

Nunally told me that in their previous conversations, she mentioned that she was aware of what her older brother Lelouch had done for all of them. She was eternally grateful for what he did as Emperor… but she doesn't know what to think of me, the new Zero.

Suzaku Kururugi is officially dead, and I've lost the right to wield that name. Lelouch is deceased, and now I bet she doesn't know who she was so devoted to when she was a member of the Black Knights.

I suppose the only thing I can do is do my best to act like Zero, "Good evening Lady Kaguya, it's good to see that you're doing well- I mean Prime Minister Kaguya!" She giggles and says,

"Zero, please, there isn't any need to be so formal. We're both locked up tight in here, so no one is around to watch us. I'm not even formally dressed," she says, gesturing her typical attire.

It's hard to believe that my own cousin, formerly my fiancé, is now leading my country. I recall back when she was little kid and how we played together. She's come a long way since she worked with the Black Knights.

"O-of course, I just thought you should be… shown proper respect given your title."

"Zero, if you want to respect me, you will address me Kaguya, or at least Lady Kaguya." She says,

"Okay… Lady Kaguya." I say nervously. All my years in the army taught me that you were supposed to treat all superiors with total respect, or risk getting punished with some sort of gruesome physical punishment. Proper titles included. I've never been totally comfortable with addressing officials of any rank otherwise.

"Now then, I believe that we should get down to business, discussing the terrorists." She says seriously, clasping her fingers together over her desk. "You're aware of what the… the…Pure Britannian's are after, correct?"

I nod, yes, "We managed to learn of a connection with their actions, but what we aren't aware of is how the ascertained this data. Would you happen to know?" When I ask, she looks away, ashamed, "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid we recently discovered how they knew… our files were hacked into."

"What!?" I stand up, surprised, "They were hacked? But these attacks have been going on for several weeks!"

"Yes, I know, and I deeply apologize. Let me go into detail over how it was discovered." Lady Kaguya stares me straight in the eyes, or where my eyes would be if I wasn't wearing this mask,

"As you are aware, what was stored away is not something that anyone can have access too. At the same time, they can't be forgotten, so we kept the files for the locations deep within our systems, with several dummy files set up in various folders. We even made sure that the file containing the data was falsely named. However…" Lady Kaguya types into her computer for a moment, then turns the monitor towards me.

I don't comprehend exactly what I'm seeing. From what I can tell, it appears to be two several images of pixels, meaning that it's probably very close up. When I look closely, I can see that one is just ever so slightly different from the other.

"What are these?" Kaguya types into her keyboard and it zooms out to reveal to windows with several folders in them, only now the two look completely identical.

"What you're observing now are two different screen shots of the same file, holding the 47 false locations, and real locations of the hidden weapon." She can't see it, but I'm giving her a confused look,

"And what do these have to do with the terrorist attacks?" Lady Kaguya puts on a downcast look,

"To be honest, it doesn't really have anything to do with the terrorist attacks, but it does give us a slightly better view of who we're dealing with. Take a good look at the two pages," she points at the screen, "Both of these are exactly the same, with no noticeable difference at first glance. I enacted a protocol that each night at midnight, a copy of the files be made and inspected for any changes, and the system is checked." She then turns to me, "This means that the group goes past the few fighting us."

"Are you saying that there's more to this group then we're seeing?" I ask, still a slightly lost,

"Most likely. If anything, they have both the equipment, and most likely a team of skilled technicians capable of hacking into a system as well defended as ours and leaving with barely any notice… if only I had realized it sooner then… then… excuse me." Lady Kaguya stands up to face a wall.

I notice her shaking slightly and realize that she's crying.

"Lady Kaguya, you can't blame yourself. Your workers failed to notice it, and as you said, whoever did this was very careful to cover their tracks. This can still be-"

"Easy for you to say!"She screams, glaring at me with tears in her eyes, "Do you know what it's like 'Zero' or whoever you are!? Do you know what it's like to know that your country is being destroyed and there's nothing you can do! The blood shed… the lives lost… the destruction of Tokyo by the FLEIJA bomb… that was the worst…" Lady Kaguya stops herself, taking a moment to compose herself. I need that time to compose myself, considering the grief that she feels is something I can easily identify with. "I will not allow the enemy to succeed. Can I rely on you Zero?"

"Of course you can! Lady Kaguya, would it be possible for you to tell me anything about the Pure Britannians that you can?"

She nods, all too serious, "Of course." She picks up several pieces of paper with details on their attack pattern. Nothing new in terms of the information given to Britannia… except for one thing. "Lady Kaguya, there's mention of a helicopter in this for when they escaped. It was fired down, and crashed into the woods, but no bodies were discovered. Have they always used these?"

She responds with, "No, this is the first time that they have shown access to anything that advanced or expensive and we don't know if they have any more access to anything else like it. It isn't like any other helicopter in our database. What we have learned is that it is heavily armored. It took several air strikes from missiles and crashed to the ground, yet the terrorists riding within it have somehow managed to survive. Also, I'm aware that you brought a Knightmare known as the Bedivere. Does that mean that you intend to battle as well?"

"That's correct. I personally asked Empress Nunally to allow me to come here on my own. To anyone else with knowledge of this, I'm in Japan as an Ambassador to Japan." It isn't really a lie. I'm here to assist in relations between Britannia and Japan. The means just happens to involve incarcerating these terrorists, killing them if necessary.

"Then I believe that you should receive this," Lady Kaguya hands me a file, "It's a list of all of the forces we have using Knighmares. The first few pages are files of the most elite of the Special Japanese Defense Forces on stand by and prepared to enter battle."

I take a look at the list and see that I know all five of them.

My former kendo teacher and rebellion General, Kyoshiro Tohdoh.

The last surviving member of the Four Heavenly Swords, Nagisa Chiba.

The former Officer of the Britannian military, Jeremiah Gottwald.

The former Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim.

And finally Kallen Kozuki, former Ace of the Black Knights.

"For the time being, we've prepared for an attack by the Pure Britannians. There is only one location left, and that is at the local museum storage facility below it. We've analyzed their movements, and have come up with a method to counter their usual technique of killing all possible witnesses. Multiple undercover soldiers and policemen have been stationed inside the building. I even ordered for local police to do a random ID check of anyone in the area to ensure that no Pure Britannians are hiding in plain sight with false identification."

"I see… in that case, I'll prepare my own Knightmare for whatever may come." I stand up to leave,

"Zero." I stop to listen to what Lady Kaguya has to say, "I don't know who you are under that mask… so I don't know if I can say 'Thank you,' because I don't know if it was you who helped me… or Lelouch…" She pauses. "…and I won't ever know, will I?"

"…My name is Zero, that is who I am. No one else."

"I see… in that case Zero… let me thank you for helping my country."

"But I haven't done anything."

"But you will. I know it." She closes her eyes and smiles, "Because you're Zero. Acting or otherwise, I have faith in you, and the fact that you'll make a miracle happen."

…I don't know how she would have interacted with Lelouch, but I know that Zero is someone she would trust her life with without a second thought. I cannot let her down.

"I'll stop this madness Lady Kaguya. I promise." I turn to her, "Is there anything else?"

"No, I'm just going to ask that you forgive my… emotional outburst earlier."

"Don't worry, you have every reason to be upset," Lady Kaguya presses a button on her desk and the locks are undone, "After all, what we had to hide in Japan," The door slowly opens, "Were unstable versions of the FLEIJA warheads that leveled Tokyo."

* * *

In poorly lit room, a small group of people were wearing protective armor, and were armed to the teeth with weapons, communication equipment, fifteen Knightmares, and even a heavily armed attack copter. Surrounding them were multiple storage boxes, each filled with something different, but all of them with some historical reference. Wherever they were, the location was not made to be lived in, the lights looked new and recently installed with wires drooping down from them in the room with black walls and ceilings.

If the location wasn't strange enough, the people in there had some rather mercurial motivations to say the least.

The armor they wore was similar to the standard Britannian soldier armor, with white replacing most of the color of the armor and equipment they had. In script, and insignia written in cursive a "P" and a "B" was written on each of them.

The initials stood for Pure Britannian.

At the moment, several of them were working with machinery, drills to be precise, attempting to dig through it and find something. A few small, recently created tunnels that were lit could be seen, but these were barely large enough for a rat to fit through, so their purpose was unknown.

At the moment, while their numbers were small, they were prepared for war, and were confident in making it out alive. All except for one person. This one person was the captive C.C. who had been captured somehow.

She looked blankly at what the Pure Britannians were ding, trying to piece together what had happened.

_What happened to me… what am I doing here? I was walking when I felt some sort of… something. I still can't describe exactly how I knew someone was in there. _

C.C pondered exactly how she was suddenly able to sense a person. The code she was given had given her two gifts and one curse. Her gifts were being able to grant the ability Geass to others through a contract, and the ability to make a person hallucinate upon skin contact. Her curse was her eternal life, which she was actually grateful for. She had notice quite a bit of blood on the back of her head, and from her experience of having others take her life, knew that it would have been a killer blow, if not would have put her in a coma.

One person walks by her, wearing a helmet like all of the others carrying several blocks of something the immortal couldn't identify, "Excuse me." He stops in his tracks, looking at me startled. I bet he thought I was dead, "Yes, me, your unwilling house guest. Would you be able to tell me where I am? And I don't suppose a glass of water would be too much to ask for, would it?" I can't see under the helmet, but the soldier, who seems to be a woman, appears to be gaping at me, dropping the blocks in her arms,

"It's just like he said… you can't die." C.C.'s eyes narrowed slightly. She's about to ask the soldier who this "He" is when she runs off to get someone, "She's awake! She's alive! It's just like Homunculus told us!" She screams, and everyone in the room stops what they are doing, and gather around me, mumbling,

All of them seem rather amazed at her, and while she can't see any of their expressions, one thing that is known is that they're shocked. After all, C.C. goes against everything they believe in about life and death.

"Enough!" A voice says. C.C. notices how familiar the voice is to her, but soon realizes that it can't be him. His voice is known to all, as it is the voice of Lelouch Vi Britannia, the Demon Emperor, but this man is far from him.

There is a soldier walking alongside him, who starts ordering everyone gawking at the green-haired girl to, "Get back to work, the operation starts as soon as those drills pierce the underground passageways, and you," He turns to the female soldier, "I told you to set the C4 block and have them wired to blow up the ceiling when we're prepared." He says, and the person that was carrying the blocks, of what are apparently explosives, sacks them up, carries them off, and uses a ladder and some sort of adhesive to attach the blocks.

Then the two of them walk towards C.C., the most striking one is the man called Homunculus, someone who is apparently the leader here.

What make him stand out aren't his physical features, because they're obscured by a costume. This costume was worn by the Man of Miracles Zero, but it isn't an exact copy. Like all of the other soldiers, he was wearing white, with every part of his clothing being white, as a reversal of Zero's typical black color scheme. One of the few parts that wasn't white was the man's helmet, more specifically the sapphire colored visor covering up his face.

C.C. had lived for hundreds of years, her normal human emotions dulled over that time. This made the amount of anger she felt surprising.

"Who the Hell are you?" She says, clearly upset. The man in the mask steps up to her, kneeling to get close, and then grabs her head, yanking it down, very hard with no regards for the owner. Her sigil still burned… but something was different.

"It's just as I was told, you really can't be killed." He digs his fingers into the back of her head to feel for any wounds, chipping some of the dry blood off, and starts drawing new blood.

"Since we've established that, perhaps we can get back to the question. You're the terrorists here, correct? I had heard some extraordinary things, but this," She struggles to look up at the costume of Homunculus, "It's laughable, a fake like you acting as a symbol for Britannia. You can't even think of an original idea to publicize your little cause. Not even an original mascot, it's incredibly humor -" He then forces her head back, making it slam against the wall.

She expected that. Being in many other captive situations over the years, the ancient woman had found that taunting those that held her, while it was petty and got nothing done, gave her some sense of power over them. And this man, a walking mockery of the symbol created by Lelouch, was someone she had wanted to hurt more than anyone in a long time. However, Homunculus was different from most that she had met. Normal people fighting for outrageous causes with so few, having this much confidence, either stock their confidence solely in themselves or the ideal, and C.C. had attacked both.

He walked away without even showing any signs of annoyance. She noticed that she had gotten under the skin of several others there, including the de facto leader of everyone else there whose hand was shaking.

_Undoubtedly someone with an itchy trigger finger, hoping to test my immortality._

Homunculus was either ignoring her, or simply very good at hiding his anger. Slamming her head against the wall… there didn't seem to be any real anger in it.

"Ms. C.C." C.C. looked up at him as he turned his neck to look at her, the "Miss" being

"How do you know who I am? Or, what I am. You're the leader, Homunculus, correct?"

"I know a lot about you, Immortal Witch. And you make me sick." C.C. put on a smile, satisfied at annoying her captor, but still confused, the "Why" for his annoyance lost to her.

"What exactly makes you angry at me? Is it jealousy for my being able to live forever? Fear for what I am? Anger towards the fact that I played a part in ruining your precious monarchy? I'm genuinely curious." He stays silent for a moment, but responds with,

"I know when I am being mocked, and I don't care for it. However, letting you get to me would be foolish. I am disgusted by you because of the wasted potential of your power." She looks at the man before her, confused, "You are a being that grants Geass, correct?" She stares at him stoically, hiding the small reservoir of emotions stirring wildly inside of her.

_My name. What I am. My ability. At first, I believed him to be someone desperate for power, but he hasn't asked a thing of me. He doesn't seem interested in the power he could gain. Not to mention the fact that he know too much about me… who are you Homunculus? Are you a surviving member of the Geass Directorate out for revenge? Another disgruntled Britannian royal?_

C.C. regains focus as soon as Homunculus continues speaking,

"Geass, a supernatural ability that can be granted to those by the incredibly small few. This ability gives the user some form of telepathic power, giving them an edge over others. You are a being that could be revered as a God, one of the only people, most likely the only, person immune to the power. Can't you see the possibilities?"

"What are you…?"

"Humans are a resource. A waste of living tissue if they are allowed any sort of leisure or choices. Over all of the years, you must have seen how many die hard fool would gladly slaughter their own families for a false God. You," Homunculus points at C.C., "could have an army of mindless pawns, hopelessly lost without your guidance, desperately serving you for their own selfish desires, and the power you can grant. You could bring the world to its knees, your followers stepping stones on the pathway to controlling it… and you're satisfied with letting all of these human lives go to waste."

C.C. remains silent,

"Well, such lost potential. You simply don't have it in you to have such ambition. I suppose that as much as you want to separate yourself from all of the others with the title of a Witch, you're still as human as the rest of them."

"And what about you?" C.C. asks, "What are you supposed to be? Are you telling me that you're more than human? A Homunculus, or artificial human, as you call yourself?"

As Homunculus is about to answer, the drills burrowing into the ground fall into the collapsing floor, along with several other soldiers.

The soldier, standing at Homunculus' side shouts, "Are you guys okay!?" In a panicked voice.

"Agh… we're fine, just… ow… just a few bruises…"

"Is it there?"

"Yeah… it's just like you said, tunnel systems made by the leader of Japan."

"Tunnel systems…?" The soldier turns back to C.C. to give an explanation,

"Before taking over the different Area's, Britannia had shown signs of amassing it's army. The Prime Minister, before Prime Minister Kururugi, had noticed this, and decided to secretly order a large amount of funding into a system of bunkers where the citizens of Japan could hide out. But it wasn't until twenty years later that Britannia attacked. The Minister looked like a paranoid fool after no less than five years and lost his position, to the previous leader of Japan. Now they're just empty, forgetting tunnels." C.C. couldn't help but notice how his voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"As for what was hidden inside about a year ago by the current leader… well, I don't think such classified information should be given out to just anybody," Homunculus said, chuckling.

C.C. wouldn't show it, but she was so confused about several things. She didn't understand the motives behind this group, or what would drive them to constantly attack all of the different locations that they did.

Furthermore, Homunculus hadn't been clear about his reasons for capturing C.C., but still had extensive information on her. Where did he learn all of this?

Lastly, one thing was bothering C.C., something that she didn't think would ever make sense to her. It was the strange ability she suddenly had, the burning sigil on her forehead. Just before, it had burned even brighter when she sensed someone in the alleyway. She thought it was the man Homunculus, but… the burning was different. Before, it increased as she got closer to whoever was in the alleyway, but now, it stayed at a steady temperature, even as Homunculus got closer to her.

_What does this mean? Was I really sensing a person? Or is my power malfunctioning?_

C.C. wondered, barely taking note of the seventeen other soldiers travelling into the hole, Knightmares and weapons in tow, and the two who brought her down.

"The Knightmares were designed with special components that let them rapidly install lights, which will make it easier to navigate the cave system. Start exploring the tunnel system, and radio in if you find a sealed vault. That should hold our prize."

Homunculus walked over to the others still above, with him.

"All of you are to enter the helicopter, you've been briefed on what needs to be done. I'll be detonating the C4, and as soon as that happens, it all starts."

* * *

**Well, I hope I'm keeping it interesting! Review when you get a chance please, I'll really appreciate it.**


	20. Survival

**Well, to anyone waiting for an update, here it is. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I had some writers black, but I think I'm back on track. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"Listen Webb, I need to get going." I tell the Britannian tourist. He looks in my direction and seems a bit sad. I try to start walking off, but wait a moment when Webb starts talking,

"Are you sure? It'll only be fifteen more minutes, he should be here soon,"

"Well I don't have time to wait." I say, snapping at him, "I have important business elsewhere, so I need you to let me leave, alright?" He looks at the ground disappointed, and mumbles,

"…okay…"

I sigh and glance over my shoulder to tell him, "Look, I can't stay to meet your nephew, but maybe later we can meet up." I see his face brighten up and he says,

"Sure, sounds good. Where do you need to go anyway?"

"My mom needs my help with something. It's personal," I tell him, lying with a straight face. Letting information of what I'm really doing leak would cause a huge panic.

"Alright, I understand. See you later then." Webb says, and turns back to the one of the exhibits we were observing.

I walk quickly away from him and start running down the stair well, the metal clanging each and every time that my shoe makes contact with it. The lights are dim, but I can still make out the steel grade finish of the walls. I can hear a slight echo from my steps, and this goes on for about a minute before something happens.

I suddenly hear a loud explosion and get distracted, losing my footing and nearly falling down the steps. I grab the hand rail and use it to pull myself up, noticing a few panicked cries,

"What the Hell?" I say to myself. What was that? An explosion happening in a public area…

"Dammit!" I shout,

There must be an attack going on! I need to get out of this building quickly. I run down the steps as fast as possible, nearly tripping a few times, but I stop around the halfway point when I hear more screaming. But this time it's different.

Before it was just a few panicked screams, terrified of the explosions, but this time… it seems to be everybody in the floors below is screaming at the top of their lungs. All of them terrified, the screams all perfectly audible in the stair well I'm stuck in. I almost feel as if I'm right there with all of them, their voices blended together in an unidentifiable mesh.

I cover my ears, trying to escape the horrible screaming and continue to move forward, but I see something strange in the distance. I notice on that something seems to be creeping up the stair well, but... it seems to be using the walls around me. What I see moving isn't a living creature, but some sort of shadow, moving up. As it comes closer, I can hear the screaming growing more intense as it reaches every level... and though it's hard to hear, I can tell that voices are disappearing, being cut off. The voices gradually die out, and I look down the stairs, I see something creeping up the walls.

I look at whatever black monstrosity is below me. It is moving quickly, and coming right towards me. I hold my breath, not even daring to make any noise. This thing... it must be hurting all of those people. I'm scared of it, but not nearly as much as I'm scared of what I'm gonna do to this thing when I get my Gurren.

I don't see any eyes on it, and since it's going after people who are screaming I can only assume that it's relying on hearing... at least I hope I'm right.

I notice a door to the floor nearest to me, the sixth floor, and cautiously move my left foot up the first of five steps, carefully pulling myself up.

The shadow is twenty feet below me.

I repeat the process, gingerly using my right foot to move myself closer to the door.

It's already come ten feet closer.

I make my next two steps slightly faster, still silent.

It's already only five feet away.

I make one last step, and the door is right in front of me. I place my hand on the bar to push it open, silently pressing it in.

The shadows already have me surrounded, and they're starting to reach the door.

I try opening it, silently turning the knob, to make my way through but it won't budge. When I push a bit harder, I see something swoop down from the left side of my eye, and suddenly the door moves, falling inward.

I look at the door, and look to see if the hinges broke, but no, they didn't. They're still attached to the part of the door that wasn't cut off.

I look to my side to see some sort of black, thin tentacle extending out from the shadow-like mass on the opposite wall. It managed to cut clean through the steel in a single swipe. The tentacle raises itself up to my eye level, and suddenly, and eye opens up on it, and a mouth appears as well.

This eye is blood red, and large enough for me to see my own eyes reflected in it, wide with terror. The teeth on its mouth are bleach white and curved, and the mouth ends abruptly at the bottom part of the thin tentacle. It's vertical, but the way it's curved makes it seem like the mouth is smiling.

" ." A distorted voice says my name. It's several different voices blended together to form a sort of high pitched, eerie fusion of them all, "It's so nice to meet you. The pleasure is all yours," the voice says.

"Wha… what…" Dammit, what's wrong with me? I can barely speak. Am I that scared of this thing?

"No need to be afraid, I won't do a thing to you… yet that is."

I take a moment to compile my thoughts on what exactly is in front of me. I've never seen anything like this. Is it some sort of bioweapon? I've never even heard of machinery advanced enough to think on its own, let alone some sort of lab experiment like this… thing. It isn't doing anything, it seems to be waiting for me to peak back,

My mouth opens up, but no words come out. I swallow the lump in my throat and choke out what I was trying to ask,

"What the Hell are you…?" I say, angered and terrified,

"It's always good to have a healthy curiosity, even better when it pertains to a superior species," This voice is very eerie. It has a strange sense of calmness, and most of all condescension. "You really want to know what I am?" I notice a smaller tentacle come near my face, the end shaped like a small hand. It lowers itself down to my neck, and I can feel it snake around my neck, the razor edge surrounding it. I nod,

"I…" The tentacle rapidly snakes off my neck before I realize it, and I put my hand to my neck, and feel blood on there.

I wrap both hands around my neck, fear gripping my body. I start hyperventilating from the shock, thinking that I had already been sentenced to death. But all too soon, the realization that I'm fine comes to me, simply from the fact that I'm hyperventilating. I look at my hands, and see that the blood is only a small amount. I panicked because I assumed that this… thing would kill just because it could.

No, I was scared because of the screaming of this thing's victims. I assumed that I would end up just like them and I was scared. I saw what this thing can do to steel. I have every right to be scared… but that doesn't mean I should be cowering in fear. I've been on the battlefield countless times. Just because I was a skilled pilot, that doesn't mean I wasn't at just as much risk as everyone else. I've come close to death every time I've fought with the Gurren without a second thought, why should I feel scared now?

I turn to the wall to face the monster, and tense up when I see even more eyes and grinning mouths suddenly appear. I don't understand this thing at all, but I won't back down,

"I'm sorry, I forget how fragile a human is. It's like handling a piece of paper," it says, "There are just countless ways it can be cut apart," It says in its same tone, still looking down on me. I make sure to keep a strong face on as I talk back. The kind of face that the Ace of the Black Knights should have when in front of an enemy, "Hmm?"

"Who are you? More importantly, what are you, and why are you here?" I ask it,

"And just why should I tell you?" As I glare at it silently, I see the multiple eyes roll simultaneously , "Why Ms. Kozuki, are _you_ trying to intimidate _me_?"

"I'm trying to get a straight answer out of you!" I say to it. This thing doesn't seem to be taking me seriously at all,

"You shouldn't concern yourself with me granting you with an answer. You should be more worried," to razor sharp tentacles come from the shadows come forth and both stop just in front of my eyes, "about your life."

"Like those people on the lower floors?" I ask venomously, looking past the shadows and glare at the main shadow. I notice the eyes narrow, and the bizarre grin of the mouth falter, turning into scowls. It's just for a moment, they go back to their original shapes soon enough.

"Not quite. That was a slaughter. This is a game of survival," What kind of sick monster am I dealing with,

"You call this a game!? These are people's lives! Innocent people who you killed, for your own pleasure!" I shout at Pride,

"Ehehehe," it just chuckles, brushing me off, "Perhaps, but I did put some of them to practical use. And I must say," it makes a slurping sound, "they were hardly all that filling. You may be joining them. Maybe"

I try to forget about this monster's sentence about what happened to the people on the lower floors and move on with the conversation. It doesn't give a damn about them, there's obviously zero humanity to appeal to in this thing, "What are you getting at?"

"Like I said, we're going to play a game of survival, a bit of fun for myself. You run out of this stair well, into the one on the adjacent side of this building, and see if you can evade me. If you do, you live. If not well…" It lifts up another razor sharp tentacle, "I at least hope you have the intelligence to figure out the consequences… ,"

I just grit my teeth. I don't have any damned choice, this thing could have killed me if it wanted, but instead it wants to toy with its prey,

"I'm going to give you a ten second head start, starting-"

"What the Hell!?" Pride is interrupted by the shocked screams of a civilian. She must be trying to get out of here. I turn around to try shouting,

"Get away fro-…" I stop mid-sentence. I'm shocked by what just happened. Pride just sent one of his tentacles straight through the women's skull. I watch as it is swiftly pulled out, and she collapses, blood pouring out,

As I stare down at the body, as Pride speaks, "Well, aren't we the caring individual," it tells me in a mocking tone. Before I can talk back to it, it goes on to say, "Well, no time to mourn for the recently departed, especially not for each and every one of them. I think we should start this little game of survival."

I turn around and look at this thing, "What kind of monster are you?" I ask it,

"Consider the answer to your questions a reward should you succeed. Now then, start running. I'll even be giving you the ten second head start, not that it will do you much good."

"And just why should I do anything you say?! What's the point if you're just going to kill me and every other person here!?"

"Because Ms. Kozuki, if you win, I won't make any attempts to harm or kill anyone else in this building, including while you're running." I'm about to respond, when Pride whips out a tentacle and slashes the skin of my shoulder. "I'm not done talking. As I was saying," I step back and stare at it, "It doesn't really matter to me whether you win or lose, but that's your incentive. Like a dog requires a treat, you require a reason to listen to anything I say. Whether I actually mean what I say doesn't matter, because you think you can make a difference. You'll listen to me just because of the razor thin chance that you can save as many lives as possible. It's so," The eyes seem to glare at me, but the mouths are still smiling, "disdainfully human." I stare at the creature for a moment longer before it says something that convinces me to bolt out the door, rushing to find the other stair case,

"Ten." The countdown has started, and I barely have any time to get to the stares. I can hear the monster counting down as I move as fast as my legs can take me, eventually being out of ear's reach of what number it's up to. I've managed to keep myself in decent shape with my training equipment, but nothing I could have done would prepare me for this.

I run past some people, all of whom are slightly disoriented from the explosion. As I reach the steps, I hear screaming, and barely stop myself from going back. Trying to help them, would be suicide. But the screaming is different. They aren't nearly as blood curdling before, mainly screams of fear. At least most of them are… dammit all!

I dash up the steps and begin my ascent. I can feel my heart racing and adrenaline pumping through my veins as I reach the seventh floor. I have to side step a few people trying to leave the building, screaming at them to,

"Stay out of its way!" Is all I can shout at them, hoping that the civilians realize what I mean when they see the monster. I look down when I hear more screaming from people I've just passed and watch as the limbs of the monster cut straight through them.

"What are you doing!? You said you wouldn't hurt anyone!"

"I said I wouldn't attempt to hurt anyone. That was an accident, unlike _this_." It tells me as is slices through the railing on the stairs. I know that's a lie, but there's no point in pointing that out,

I'm the only thing this thing is focused on.

I continue to run up the stairs, hitting the eighth floor by the time the monster comes close, and makes its attempts to cut me,

"My, my, are you always this fast, or is fear pushing you past your limits!" It lashes out a tentacle, and makes a shallow cut on my back. I grit my teeth, and continue upwards, reaching the ninth floor as the creature continues to banter, and starts to repeatedly strike at me, leaving multiple lacerations, but they're only superficial,

"Let's see how determined you are."

Before reaching the ninth floor, I'm nearly stopped in my tracks when the tentacles cut through the stairs on front of me, making three sets of them. This thing is trying to make me fall, but the cut doesn't go through deep enough and there is still a bit of metal attached to each part of the stairs holding it up, but not for long. As the metal starts to give, I run up it, pushing off as hard as I with my one foot, barely reaching the rest of the stairs as what was cut goes plummeting to the bottom. I repeat the process with the second and third piece of the stairs, and manage to get the tip of my foot onto the steps, and push the rest of myself forward to the tenth floor.

"Bravo, well done, if only you could actually impress me," Ignoring this things taunts, I continue forward, and this time, I nearly let my foot fall through the steps. Now it's trying to carve the stairs up from right underneath my feet!

"Don't stop now, not when victory is so close," I stagger up the steps. This thing isn't trying to catch me, it's just toying with me, "Just imagine all of those innocent people screaming as I cut them apart," I grab onto the railing help me maintain my balance and keep running forward.

I keep running, running from the floor collapsing beneath me, and I'm just one floor away from doing as this thing told me to. As I'm running up the steps, I notice some sort of black line at the top of the steps, I see it coming closer, and realize what it was before it was too late. It was one of the tentacles! He's sending them down at me as blades, cutting through the stairs! I can't stop now, I'm running low on stamina and blood.

I run forward, straight towards the deadly blades. "You fool. Like you'd get through this in one piece." I dash up the steps, dodging left and right to avoid the blades. I push myself off of the handrails to help keep myself moving and continue running. I dodge blade after blade, and just when I reach the door, grabbing the handle.

For a split second, everything slows down. I can see the blade slowly coming towards me, aiming to cut me in half. I see it curve as I move out of its path, and I'm knocked back to my regular senses after smacking my head against the door and falling in when I pulled myself out of the way using the doorknob I grabbed.

I groan as I slowly force myself to stand, panting, trying to catch my breath. I force myself to stand by dragging myself up the wall. Unfortunately, it's made easier by the blood pouring out of my body. My arms and legs are tired, and my left arm has some sort of burning sensation on it,

I did it. I outran that monster. I made it to the top… now I'll see how true that thing is to its word.

The dark mass stares at me with all its eyes, its mouths in their usual shape. It's made a wall out of itself, to block any more civilians from passing by us.

"Well, you made it to the top." It says simply,

"That's right… I… did…" I say, panting,

"Not unscathed," I notice the position of the eyes shift briefly, indicating something on my left arm... and then I feel a moment of shock as I've on just noticed it. A chunk of my shoulder is missing! I curse and grip over the spot, but stop my hand from touching the wound, to try and avoid infection. So that burning feeling was the blood coming out of my body. My left shoulder must have gotten cut off when I was avoiding that last blade. It's only a small part, but I can still see my muscle tissue! The adrenaline kept me from noticing it, that's the only explanation I can think of for not feeling this sooner.

My body starts to calm down and the pain from the cuts, and my shoulder become more apparent as it does, but I continue to speak, hopeful that this thing will keep its word,

"I outran you… just like you told me to… are you going to leave everyone here alone, just like you promised?" The eyes gaze at me silently, before responded with,

"What promise? I never promised you anything." My eyes widen, and I feel a strong despair. Just as I feared, this thing is just going against its word. It' going o hurt everyone here,

"No… you said that if I ran up here, and away from you that you'd let everyone in the building live! You said you'd leave them alone! Are you just going back on your word."

The grins widen, and the monster goes on to say, "Ah, I s. it seems my expectation of your mental capacity were set too high," I look at the black monstrosity in confusion, "When did I ever state that I would harm anyone else in this building." I think about what it said, and respond, still confused,

"But you old me that if I win-"

"Did I ever mention what would happen if you lost? It didn't matter to me whether you did, this was all a bit of leisure, which I could have gone with or without," I think back, and now that this thing mentions it. It told me to figure out the consequences for losing… I think about some of the things it said… wait… no… suddenly, I clench my fists,

"When you said it didn't matter to you… and you said that I thought I could make a difference… does that mean everything I did was pointless!?"

"First off, do you really need to ask such an obvious question? You honestly believed that I would give up my goal after losing a game? No Ms. Kozuki, I simply made you think you were going to save every one. A dog and its treat. I came here to take captives, in order to help keep keep a few worms currently underground alive. I sealed off the exit, and I ate everyone else because I wanted to. Our goal is a very deadly weapon hidden underground, unstable models of the FLEIJA warheads. These are much more dangerous, so unstable that they couldn't be properly disarmed."

I look at the shadow, slightly disturbed. Giving information to an enemy doesn't make sense, unless the enemy... isn't supposed to leave with important information. "And why are you telling me this?"

"It's not as if anything you can do will disrupt my plans. If anything, whatever you do will further my goal. Besides," I notice several tentacles snaking towards me, still flat on the ground, "I thought I should give one of my guests of honor the privilege of some special information." I press my back against the wall, and start panicking,

"Special guest? What the Hell do you mean!?" The mouths grin widely,

"You honestly think I'd waste my time with just a random human Ms. Kozuki? No, I need you for my little plot, and since you did actually win, I think I'll answer your two questions: What I am, and who I am. Firstly," The Tentacles lift themselves off of the floor, right in front of me,

"I am a _Homunclulus!_" As it states the last word, the tentacles wrap themselves around my head, completely covering it,

"I," It lifts me off the ground my head, and I use my hand to grab at my head, fruitlessly trying to get the shadows off of me, flailing my body, "am Pride the Arrogant!" It slams my head into the wall behind me, and I start to fade out. As I lose consciousness, I'm more confused by the answers I've been given.

Pride? Homunculus? Hostages? I don't understand any of it, or why he would want me. My last thoughts are on the innocent people still in here, and what will happen to them,

* * *

**I hope this chapter was entertaining. As usual, if you have the time, please review and give me your thoughts and ways I can improve with anything. Thanks!**


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